A non-vacuum growth technique for pure cubic PbF 2 crystal was reported in this paper. It used a chemical as a scavenger to deprive the oxygen impurities in the raw materials and growth system and realized the growth of PbF 2 crystals under non-vacuum conditions. The needle-like defect existing in lead fluoride crystals was identified to be an orthorhombic phase of PbF 2 crystal. It can be eliminated effectively when annealed within a reduction atmosphere and at a temperature higher than 365 o C. PbF 2 crystals grown with this method are characterized with a wide transparent region from 240nm to 16.7μm, a good energy resolution of 3.2%/√E, and a very high radiation hardness.