Single crystal growth from light, volatile and reactive materials using lithium and calcium flux

Abstract

We present a method for the solution growth of single crystals from reactive Li and Ca melts and its application to the synthesis of several, representative compounds. Among these, single crystalline LiN, Li(Li)N with = {Mn, Fe, Co}, LiCaN, LiC, LiRh and LiIr from Li-rich flux, as well as CaN, CaNi, CaNi, YbNi, YNi and LaNi from Ca-rich flux could be obtained. Special emphasize is given on the growth of nitrides using commercially available LiN and CaN powders as the nitrogen source instead of N gas.

Keywords:

• crystal growth
• solution growth
• nitrides
• X-ray diffraction
• magnetic properties

Acknowledgements

S.L. Bud’ko, P. Höhn, R.S. Houk, J.L. Jacobs and A. Kreyssig are acknowledged for comments and discussions. The authors thank F. Laabs and W.E. Straszheim for assistance with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Science, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (BES-DMSE). The research was performed at the Ames Laboratory. Ames Laboratory is operated for the US Department of Energy by Iowa State University under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358. The authors would like to acknowledge supplemental support from BES-DMSE for the acquisition of a Inert Gas Atmosphere system that was instrumental in the synthesis and characterization of the materials prepared for this research.