A valve for use in an internal combustion engine is disclosed. The valve includes a stem friction welded to a head portion. The head portion is cast from a single crystal metal using a casting process that creates little or no grain boundaries. The single crystal metal can be a nickel based superalloys such as CMSX-4, CMSX 3, Rene N5, and Rene N6. By having little or no grain boundaries, defects that occur in other types of casting material, such as large numbers of grain boundaries can be minimized. This allows the head portion and particularly the combustion face to withstand an operating temperature in the combustion chamber in excess of 850° C.