Disclosed is an apparatus and a method for growing single crystals of materials such as silicon carbide through axial gradient transport. A source of the material (10) is placed at one end of a reaction chamber (2) opposite a seed crystal (13). Separate heating elements (16 and 60; 20 and 62) are positioned at opposite ends of the reaction chamber. The reaction chamber (2) is placed in a pressurized growth chamber (26). By appropriately controlling the pressure in the growth chamber (26) and the temperature of the heating elements (16, 20), including the temperature differential therebetween, a uniaxial temperature gradient is generated in the reaction chamber (2). In this manner, substantially planar isotherms are generated and a high quality crystal can be grown through a physical vapor transport process.