Crystal Growth of a Lamellar Sr₃Ru₂O₇–Sr₄Ru₃O₁₀ Eutectic System

Abstract

Lamellar eutectic crystals of Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 -Sr 4 Ru 3 O 10 have been successfully grown in a double-mirror optical floating zone furnace in the flux feeding floating zone configuration with Ru self-flux. The synthesis procedure of the polycrystalline rod is found to be a critical factor for the crystal growth. The eutectic dark-brown crystals grow in the [100] direction and cleave in the a-b plane as the single phase crystals. The morphology, structure, phase purity, and composition of the samples were analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results from backscattered electron (BSE) imaging as well as from energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) were combined with the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data to obtain complementary chemical and crystallographic information. Moreover, XRD analysis indicated that the Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 and Sr 4 Ru 3 O 10 phases match the same crystal with parallel in-plane and out-of-plane lattice parameters. The resistance measurements showed a Fermi liquid behavior at low temperatures analogous to the one found in the single phases. We grew eutectic crystals representing natural junctions made of metamagnetic Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 and ferromagnetic Sr 4 Ru 3 O 10 that may be useful in studies of possible novel quantum critical phenomena specific to itinerant magnetism systems.

Structural and electronic properties ofSr2RuO4/Sr3RuAutieri1, Cuoco2, Noce3 2014Phys. Rev. B323160View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…In this respect, we mention that Sr 2 RuO 4 /Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 [18,19] and Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 /Sr 4 Ru 3 O 10 [20] eutectics have been achieved. The investigation of the collective behavior of the eutectic phases indicates a relevant role of the interface physics, and their superconducting and magnetic properties turn out to differ markedly if compared to the homogeneous single crystalline ones [21][22][23].…”

Double metamagnetic transition inSr4Ru3O10

“…Details on the growth methodology are given elsewhere [27,30,31]. Composition, crystalline structure, and quality of the crystals were checked by means of energy dispersive spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, polarizedlight optical microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction, specific heat, x-ray diffraction, and susceptibility measurements.…”

Floating zone growth of eutectic Srn+1RunO3n+1 crystals

“…On the other hand, by the same analysis, we got on bright contrast region of sample B a Sr/Ru ratio of 1.48(3) (corresponding to Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 ) while a ratio of 1.32(2) (corresponding to Sr 4 Ru 3 O 10 ) has been measured in dark area. The EBSD measurements performed along the polished (a-b) plane of samples B showed the presence of wavy interfaces at the boundary between the Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 and the Sr 4 Ru 3 O 10 [9].…”

“…The rod and seed crystal were www.crt-journal.org rotated oppositely to each other at 30 rpm. An inspection of the surface of several samples under a differential interference contrast microscope in polarized light showed that the crystal morphology was mainly constituted by ordered lamellar pattern or isolated islands of one phase embedded in the other [8,9,11]. X-ray diffraction spectra of sample A and sample B with different ratio of the two phases are shown in figure 1.…”

“…Two types of single crystals (Sr 2 RuO 4 ) 1-x /(Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 ) x with x up to 1 (sample A) and (Sr 4 Ru 3 O 10 ) 1-y /(Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 ) y with y up to 0.5 (samples B) were grown by a floating-zone method in an infrared image furnace (NEC Machinery, model SC-MDH11020) in Salerno, using procedures described in detail elsewhere [8,9]. All the crystals used in this study were characterized by X-ray diffraction using a Bruker D8 automatic diffractometer operating with nickel filtered CuKα radiation (λ = 1.5406 Å) source used at 40 kV and 40 mA.…”