Floating graphite and fused silica dies were used to grow both undoped and Na doped CsI crystals by the edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) method. Both die materials yielded high quality CsI crystals at high growth rates. Under the conditions employed in these growth experiments, a pull rate of up to 45 mm/h was possible using a 15 mm diameter graphite die. Growth procedures were developed to enhance crystal quality through iterative die design in combination with numerical modeling. The formation of cylindrical voids (bubble tracks) was investigated and methods were developed for their suppression. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.