Synthesis of large single-grain 1/1 approximant crystals in the Ag–In–Eu system by the self-flux method

Abstract

In this work, we investigate single-grain 1/1 quasicrystal approximant crystals, grown via the self-flux method, in the Ag–In–Eu system, the structure of which is similar to the 1/1 approximant in the Cd–Eu system. Due to the similarities between the Cd–RE (RE = rare earth) and Ag–In–RE systems, Ag–In–RE can be regarded as a pseudo-binary phase, in which Ag and In replace Cd. Thus, based on the binary phase diagram of Cd–Eu, the growth conditions, including the nominal composition and decanting temperatures, for single-grain Ag–In–Eu 1/1 approximant crystal growth from indium-rich melt-solution were studied. A faceted, centimeter-sized single-grain 1/1 approximant crystal was obtained and characterized using powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and back-reflection Laue X-ray diffraction methods. The results are promising for the synthesis of single-grain approximant crystals in other Ag–In–RE systems.

Keywords:

• quasicrystal approximant
• Ag–In–Eu
• crystal growth

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11074220), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. Y4100310), and the Global COE Program “Materials Integration, Tohoku University,” MEXT, Japan.