Spherical crystals, 0.5 to 11mm in diameter, were grown under free-fall conditions. It was found that some of the crystals had dislocation densities which were of the order of 104/cm2. Such levels were 2 orders lower than those for melt-grown terrestrial crystals. It was noted that these methods offered the possibility of stably positioning a large volume of liquid in a micro-gravity environment in order to reduce the defect density.

K.Kinoshita, T.Yamada: Journal of Crystal Growth, 1996, 165, 75-80