PRL: Unconventional Crystal Structure of the High-Pressure Superconductor La₃Ni₂O₇

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

The study, mostly done by scientists from Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, investigates the unconventional crystal structure of La₃Ni₂O₇, a high-pressure superconductor, using advanced microscopy and diffraction techniques. Crystals were grown using the optical floating zone technique with a ScIDre HKZ furnace under high oxygen pressure, which is crucial for achieving the unconventional structure. Superconductivity is observed above 8 GPa, with significant changes in transition temperature under pressure. The distinct stacking deviates from the typical Ruddlesden-Pop...

New Nature article: Superconductivity in pressurized trilayer La₄Ni₃O₁₀₋δ single crystals

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Scientists of the Fudan University in Shanghai present groundbreaking research on the emergence of superconductivity in trilayer nickelate crystals under high pressure. The nickelate single crystals were grown at an oxygen pressure of 18-22 bar using a ScIDre HKZ floating zone furnace. The authors demonstrate that applying pressure to these crystals suppresses spin and charge order, leading to superconductivity with a maximum critical temperature Tc of around 30 K at 69.0 GPa. Notably, the d. c. susceptibility measurements reveal a significant diamagnetic response below Tc, indicating bulk sup...

Advances in high-pressure laser floating zone growth from California

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

The group of Stephen Wilson from University of California, Santa Barbara, recently demonstrated floating zone crystal growth at 700 bar gas pressure. In a recent Review of Scientific Instruments publication the authors present a second-generation design of the high-pressure laser floating zone furnace, “Laser Optical Kristallmacher II” (LOKII), featuring two ScIDre pulling drives which were specifically developed and build for the furnace. Innovative laser beam path redirection dramatically improves the imaging quality and pyrometric temperature measurements compared to the first generation. T...

Electronic and atomic structure under pressure in La₄Ni₃O₁₀

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

High-quality single crystals of trilayer nickelate La₄Ni₃O₁₀ were grown at Sun Yat-Sen University in a HKZ furnace at 20 bar oxygen pressure. The samples were used to determine the atomic structure and perform transport measurements under a pressure of up to 44.3 GPa, as the atomic and electronic structure is fundamental to the understanding superconductivity. A tetragonal structural transition is detected at the same time as the drop in resistance below 7 K occurs. DFT calculations revealed that the structural transition results in a significant change of the Fermi surface, showing an intrins...

Magnetic phase diagram of hexagonal GdInO₃

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Researchers from Heidelbergs Kirchoff Institute of Physics investigated the magnetization process down to the mK-regime and the magnetic phase diagrams of the hexagonal perovskite rare earth oxide GdInO₃. To compensate the heavy volatilization of In₂O₃ the single crystals were grown under an oxygen pressure of 30 bar using the ScIDre optical floating zone furnace HKZ. The authors state that the system evolves long-range antiferromagnetic order at TN = 2.1 K and exhibits considerable magnetic frustration (|Θ|/TN ≃ 5). GdInO3 features a broad 1/3 plateau indicating an up-up-down spin configurati...

Polymorphism in the Ruddlesden–Popper Nickelate La₃Ni₂O₇: Discovery of a Hidden Phase

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Another significant discovery has been made in the currently very popular and rapidly evolving field of Ruddlesden-Popper Nickelates. Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a new polymorph of the RP phase La₃Ni₂O₇. Boules of this polymorph, which were grown under high oxygen pressure with a ScIDre optical floating zone furnace HKZ-150 at 13 to 16 bar, were analyzed using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It turned out that the newly discovered polymorph had a novel stacking sequence of alternating n = 1 and n = 3 perovskite slab layers in...

Superconductivity in trilayer nickelate La₄Ni₃O₁₀ single crystals

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Rare-earth nickelates are becoming more and more the focus of research since the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in infinite-layer and Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) bilayer nickelates. For exploration of the underlying mechanism of potential superconductivity, the trilayer RP compound La₄Ni₃O₁₀ is ideal, as it maintains its metallic character at low temperatures under ambient pressure and due to the interplay between magnetism and interlayer coupling, with many exciting phases and transitions which could be determined in prevoius publications, some of them presented earlier in this bl...

Phase formation in hole- and electron-doped rare-earth nickelate single crystals

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Since the discovery of superconducting behavior in hole-doped rare-earth nickelates with an infinite-layer crystal structure Ruddlesden–Popper nickelates Rn+1NinO3n+1 have increasingly become the focus of research again in recent years. However, growing larger single crystals in this class of compounds posed a major experimental challenge. The use of the high-oxygen pressure high-temperature optical floating zone (OFZ) technique led to the technical breakthrough that enabled the growth of large Rn+1NinO3n+1 single crystals.

In this study, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solid Sta...

Synthesis and Characterization of the new Double Perovskite Y₂MgRuO₆

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Recently, Scientists of the Max-Planck-Institute CPfS found a new compound in the scientificly interesting group of ruthenates. Y₂MgRuO₆, a new double perovskite, was grown with a ScIDre HKZ mirror furnace under an O2/Ar atmosphere of 10 bar. As is typical for ruthenates, the strong evaporation of RuO2 is what makes the synthesis experimentally challenging.

Although it was not possible to obtain this compound purely in a polycrystalline form, it was possible to extract small single crystals from the as-grown boule and to analyse their properties.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/13/9/1365

Li₅.₅La₃Nb₁.₅Zr₀.₅O₁₂ - a promising candidate for solid-state electrolytes in Li-ion batteries

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

All-solid-state lithium-ion batteries are superior to conventional lithium-ion batteries in terms of energy density and safety risks and are currently of interest in battery research. For the investigation of solid-state Li-ion conductors a single-crystal state of the materials is preferable.

The study shows the growth of Li₅.₅La₃Nb₁.₅Zr₀.₅O₁₂, a garnet-type LLNZO Li-ion conductor with a quite promising ionic conductivity. It's the first report of a single crystal growth of a LLNZO with this Li content. The authors successfully grew this compound using the ScIDre HKZ-300 furnace of the PARADIM...

High-pressure crystal growth of nickelates La₄Ni₃O₁₀

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

We are thrilled to see yet another remarkable article on crystal growth of nickelates published some days ago by Kirchhoff Institute of Physics scientists from Heidelberg University. The quasi-two-dimensional Ruddlesden–Popper trilayer phase La₄Ni₃O₁₀ exhibits an exciting mixture of Ni2+ and Ni3+ ions and an unusual metal-to-metal transition, described in another HKZ-related publication from Argonne National Lab 3 years ago (Zhang, J. et al., Nat. Commun. 11, 6003 (2020)). Single crystals of this phase are very challenging to grow due to the requirement of high-pressure oxygen atmosphere and t...

Synthesis and physical properties of LaNiO₂ crystals

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Nickelates with different valence states of the Ni ions are increasingly becoming the focus of cutting-edge research in solid-state physics. Recent discoveries of superconductivity in thin films and bulk crystals have fueled the synthesis and investigation efforts of these compounds. Achieving stabilization of the Ni3+ valence state in LaNiO₃ requires high partial pressure of oxygen for successful synthesis. A recent study from Stuttgart presents the methods and results of growing large LaNiO₃ crystals using the HKZ-300 furnace at 150 bar oxygen pressure and their subsequent transformation int...

New Nature article: Signatures of superconductivity near 80 K in La₃Ni₂O₇ under high pressure

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

High pressure crystal growth of a nickelate with a ScIDre HKZ furnace yields a high-impact publication with remarkable results: Nature published a study based on the single crystal growth of La₃Ni₂O₇, grown with the floating zone technique at an oxygen pressure of 15 bar. Scientists of the Sun Yat-Sen University and collaborators observed signatures of superconductivity in single crystals of La₃Ni₂O₇ with a maximum Tc of 80 K at pressures between 14.0 - 43.5 GPa. The Tc for this presumably unconventional superconductor is exceptionally high. It is comparable to that of high-Tc cuprates at ambie...

Scintillation and Photoluminescence Properties of Lu₂O₃:Eu

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Recently, Scientists of Shanghai University investigated the scintillation and photoluminescence properties of Lu₂O₃:Eu. By using one of our HKZ furnaces, they prepared a series of crystals via optical floating zone crystal growth. Lu₂O₃:1%Eu and Lu₂O₃:8%Eu crystals were grown under atmospheric pressure with air, N2, and a H2-Ar mixture (5 vol% H2, 95 vol% Ar), respectively.

They found that oxidizing atmospheres lead to a depression of Eu(S6) luminescence and to a decrease of the characteristic decay time of Eu(S6). The Lu2O3:8%Eu sample grown under reducing atmosphere showed the lowest afterg...

Electronic structure and correlations in planar trilayer nickelate Pr₄Ni₃O₈

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

In the past, various nickelate compounds have been of interest for their correlated electron properties and possible superconductivity. A particular focus is on two-dimensional Ni¹⁺ compounds that might mimic the Cu²⁺ state of the superconducting cuprates. After superconductivity was discovered in some thin films of planar infinite layer nickelates, the authors investigated the trilayer nickelate Pr₄Ni₃O₈ via ARPES.

Since ARPES is a surface-sensitive techniques, the first step was to grow a precursor compound: The high-pressure single-crystal growth of Pr₄Ni₃O₁₀ was performed by optical floati...

Magnetoelastic coupling of NiTiO₃

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

In order to understand the origin and mechanism of the pronounced magnetodielectric coupling in NiTiO₃, researchers from Heidelbergs Kirchoff Institute of Physics grew large, high-quality single crystals of this compound by means of the optical floating-zone technique (ScIDre HKZ two-mirror vertical configuration optical furnace and a four-mirror horizontal configuration) under various atmospheres and at different pressure. The single crystals were used for high-resolution studies of thermal expansion and magnetostriction along the crystallographic a and c axes, respectively. From thermal expa...

Oxygen Inhomogeneity and Reversibility in Single Crystal LaNiO₃−δ

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

While the mechanism of the insulator-metal transition in rare-earth perovskite nickelates is still under debate, LaNiO₃ does not undergo this kind of transition und thus stands out as having particular importance in nickelate research. The floating zone crystal growth of LaNiO₃−δ conducted by different research groups lead to very different conclusions from the observed features in magnetism and the question arose whether these features are intrinsic to stoichiometric LaNiO₃ or an artifact of the incorporation of oxygen-deficient phases. So, the scientists of Argonne National Lab decided to fu...

Synthesis of bulk Nd₁₋ₓSrₓNiO₂ and Nd₁₋ₓSrₓNiO₃ improved with the A-HSO at Argonne National Lab

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Resulting from the recent observation of superconductivity in Nd₁₋ₓSrₓNiO₂ the interest in the infinite-layer RNiO2 (R = La, Nd) compounds revived. Since experimental reports into RNiO2 compounds are quite limited, Nd₁₋ₓSrₓNiO₂ and its precursor Nd₁₋ₓSrₓNiO₃ were synthesized and characterized at Argonne National Lab. Experience shows, that introducing Sr2+ into the RNiO₂ structure as a dopant requires quite high temperatures and oxygen pressures. For experimental challenges like this one our A‑HSO furnace was developed in cooperation with John F. Mitchell. For the different experimental approa...

Single-crystal growth of a new Ruthenate Ba₂₆Ru₁₂O₅₇ at the Max-Planck-Institute in Dresden

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Recently, Scientists of the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (MPI CPfS) found a new compound in the scientificly interesting group of ruthenates. They report on the single crystal growth of Ba₂₆Ru₁₂O₅₇ enabled with a ScIDre HKZ mirror furnace. The crystal was grown with a speed of 6 mm/h under 16 bar of an Argon/Oxygen atmosphere (with a ratio of 1:6) and a starting material with a Ba to Ru ratio of 2:1. A large evaporation of Rutheniumoxide lead to the final Ba:Ru ratio in this compound and even with other Ba:Ru ratios of 2:1.1 and 2:1.05 the Ruthenium loss couln't be compe...

Intertwined density waves in a metallic nickelate

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

The sought-after mechanism of metal-to-metal transition in the Ruddlesden-Popper phase La4Ni3O10 could be revealed after 25 years of research in a recent publication. Combining single crystal synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction, coupled charge and spin order superlattices could be observed in high quality single crystals grown with a HKZ furnace at 20 bar oxygen pressure at Argonne National Lab. The authors present models of intertwined charge-density and spin-density waves that reproduce the measurements and explain semi-quantitatively the unusual metal-to-metal transition at approx. 15...

Comprehensive study of the metal-to-metal transition in Pr₄Ni₃O₁₀

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Motivated by structural similarities with the Cu-O layers in high-temperature superconductors, the compound Pr₄Ni₃O₁₀, featuring quasi-2D Ni-O layers, was investigated as part of a cooperation between several swiss research facililties. The single-crystal growth was performed by means of the optical floating-zone method at an oxygen pressure of about 140 bar using a ScIDre HKZ furnace. The scientists gained a better understanding for the different physical properties at high and low temperatures by performing experiments in connection with the metal-to-metal transition at Tpt ≈ 157 K, such as ...

Luminescent properties of optical floating-zone grown YSH:Eu single crystal

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

A single crystal of europium doped YSH was grown by the optical floating zone method for the first time. The scientists of the Shanghai University grew the crystal with a nominal composition of Hf₀.₈₆Y₀.₁₃Eu₀.₀₁O₁.₉₃ under air atmosphere in a vertical double-ellipsoid mirror furnace (SciDre HKZ), equipped with 6500 W Xe arc lamp as heating source. They determined the materials photoluminescence and scintillation properties and brought them into perspective with Lu₂O₃:Eu.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009261419308978

Joint publication with Augsburg University dealing with our Feedback Furnace

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Our cooperation project with Augsburg University yielded beside the new instrument “Feedback Furnace” for flux crystal growth a first joint paper, published together with Andreas Schneider and Anton Jesche: In Situ Detection of Nucleation in High-Temperature Solutions (https://doi.org/10.1002/crat.201900109). In the Crystal Research and Technology invited paper we describe some details and first results of the feedback method, a novel in situ phase transition detection method and its implementation in a crystal growth setup for solution growth in controlled atmospheres. We are especially happy...

High pO₂ Floating Zone Crystal Growth of the Perovskite Nickelate PrNiO₃

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Another member of the perovskite nickelates family PrNiO₃ was succesfully grown as single crystal with a ScIDre HKZ furnace. Mainly executed by scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, the growth was performed in the PARADIM lab at Johns Hopkins University under oxygen pressures of 295 bar. Previous attemts to grow this crystals using our 150 bar floating zone furnace were unsuccessful, as the PrNiO₃ phase could not be observed in growth at or below 180 bar, and as a significant component only at 260 bar. As the autors write, this study “demonstrates the opportunity space for high fugacity...

Magnetic properties of high-pressure optical floating-zone grown LaNiO₃ single crystals

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Sought-after single crystals of LaNiO₃ were grown recently at the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics, Heidelberg University by means of the optical floating-zone method at oxygen pressures of 40 and 80 bar using a ScIDre HKZ furnace. The magnetic analysis of the samples indicates that long-range magnetic order is not intrinsic and most likely arising due to oxygen deficient phases.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022024819303720

Single-crystal growth of the Weyl semimetals candidates PrAlGe and CeAlGe

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

The theoretically predicted magnetic Weyl semimetals RAlGe (R = Pr, Ce) were grown in Paul Scherrer Institute using a HKZ floating zone furnace as well as Al self-flux growth. The authors around group leader Ekaterina Pomjakushina recently published the details on crystal growth and analysis. Only by the FZ approach truly stoichiometric single crystals could be obtained reliably, whereas the crystals grown by a flux-growth technique tend to be Al-rich. Magnetic characterization and transport data obtained from the single crystals confirm that the crystals have physical properties consistent wi...

Pushing boundaries: first OFZ paper with 300 bar pressure

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Our first 300 bar OFZ furnace manufactured for Tyrel McQueen Lab at Johns Hopkins University yielded the first paper, published in the 50th Anniversary Issue of the Journal of Solid State Chemistry (Phelan, W. Adam, et al. “Pushing boundaries: High pressure, supercritical optical floating zone materials discovery.” Journal of Solid State Chemistry 270 (2019): 705-709). The authors describe the potentials of high-pressure atmospheres for the discovery of new materials and report the first successful stable molten zone in an optical furnace at P = 300 bar. At this pressure range, most common gas...

Nature Communications: LaNiO₃ study based on high oxygen pressure crystal growth

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

High pressure crystal growth of nickelates with a ScIDre HKZ furnace again yields a high-impact publication with remarkable results: Nature Communications published in one of its first 2018 papers a study based on the single crystal growth of LaNiO₃ single crystals by the floating zone technique at oxygen pressures of up to 150 bar. For the first time, scientists of Alexander Komarek’s group from the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids could synthesize centimeter-sized single crystals of rare earth nickelates with high Ni3+ oxidation state, which are essentially free from Ni2+ i...

New rhodates single crystals were grown and analyzed at the Max-Planck-Institute in Dresden

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

In a recent publication in PHYSICAL REVIEW MATERIALS 1, scientists from the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (MPI CPfS) report the growth of centimeter-sized high-quality single crystals of 50 % electron-doped Sr₂RhO₄ (Sr₁.₅La₀.₅RhO₄), by the flux feeding floating zone (FFFZ) method using a ScIDre HKZ furnace. Stable growth conditions for the single crystal synthesis of this correlated material could be achieved with a mixture of Ar and O2 at a pressure of 20 bar. An excess of 5 % Rh₂O₃ was added into the feed rod in order to serve as self-flux and to compensate the heavy ev...

Single crystal growth of praseodymium-containing cobalt perovskites at Argonne National Lab

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Using their HKZ machine, scientists from the Materials Science Division at Argonne National Lab moved on from their highly successful single crystal growth of perovskite nickelate to the investigation of unusual cobalt perovskites. In the Journal of Solid State Chemistry, N. J. Schreiber et al. describe the single crystal growth of (Pr1−yYy)1−xCaxCoO3-δ with x=0.3 and y=0.15 by applying oxygen pressures of 60 bar during the floating zone process. Measurements on the high-quality samples confirmed a first-order metal-insulator transition previously reported in polycrystalline specimens, but no ...

New Nature Physics article: close analogues to HTC cuprates grown in Argonne with a HKZ furnace

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

In a recent Nature Physics publication scientists from J. F. Mitchell's group at Argonne NL and their colleagues present the growth procedure and analysis results of the closest analogues to high-Tc cuprates yet reported: the nickelate Pr₄Ni₃O₈. Single crystals of this “promisig candidate for unconventional superconductivity” could be obtained after the high-pressure optical floating zone growth and subsequent reduction in a H2/Ar atmosphere. The authors “have shown, that bulk R438 crystals possess a combination of traits that are widely considered as important ingredients for high-Tc supercon...

Review paper of recent advances in crystal growth techniques for novel quantum materials

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Recent progress in instrumentation design for academic crystal growth is highlighted in a brand-new “Annual Review of Materials Research” publication by Julian L. Schmehr and Stephen D. Wilson from University of California. The authors give a comprehensive overview of recent innovations and fundamental advances in crystal growth techniques summed up over the last years, including some of ScIDre’s products like the HKZ furnace with different pressure ranges up to 300 bar and the high-pressure oxygen annealing furnace HSO. We are proud to be able to contribute to the opening of “new scientific a...

High-Pressure Floating-Zone Growth of Perovskite Nickelate LaNiO₃ Single Crystals at Argonne National Lab

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

The correlated-electron perovskite LaNiO₃ can be used to address some of the fundamental questions of transition metal oxides physics. Up to now, only polycrystalline samples of this nickelate have been generated. Scientist of the Materials Science Division under John F. Mitchell from Argonne National Lab managed to grow LaNiO₃ single crystals under high-pressure oxygen atmosphere. In a recent “Crystal Growth & Design” paper the researchers report the successful growth of single crystals of LaNiO₃ using the ScIDre high-pressure floating-zone furnace HKZ with up to 50 bar pO₂. The crystal struc...

Series of high-quality Li(Mn,Fe)PO₄ single crystals grown in Heidelberg at elevated Ar pressure

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Scientists from the Heidelberg University, mainly Kirchhoff-Institute for Physics, recently published their highly successful experiments in growing large, mm-sized single crystals of Li(Mn,Fe)PO₄ at elevated argon pressure using the ScIDre HKZ furnace. High-quality single crystalline samples of olivine-structured orthophosphates LiMPO₄ M = (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) are much sought-after, since they enable detailed investigations and a deeper understanding of the principles of lithium exchange in this material with strong potentials for future electrochemical energy storage applications. The vertical s...

Nature publication with the HKZ-grown material YbMgGaO4 from Fudan University

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Jun Zhao's group recently composed a Nature paper based on neutron scattering data obtained on the inorganic quantum spin liquid candidate YbMgGaO₄. The authors’ measurements suggest the existence of a clear upper excitation edge or a spinon Fermi surface for this material and might be the first momentum- and energy-dependent observations of a spinon metal.

The optically transparent, cm-sized single crystals of YbMgGaO₄ were grown with a ScIDre HKZ optical floating zone furnace at the Fudan University. The crystals of this exotic material approved to have extraordinary quality, suitable for hi...

First single crystal of pure trivalent Co oxidation state material

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Successful growth of large high-quality LaSrCoO₄ single crystals was recently performed and reported by the crystal growth group from Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, lead by Alexander Christoph Komarek. In the emerging open access crystallography journal “Crystals” the autors write that obtaining large, impurity-free single crystals was only possible using the high O2-pressure floating zone technique with pure oxygen at 150 bar in a ScIDre HKZ furnace. Growth speed of 2 mm/h reqiured stable conditions. Black shiny single crystals of ∼60 mm length were obtained. No impurity...

Johns Hopkins University press release: “Johns Hopkins Joins National Research on New Tech Components”.

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

On March 4, 2016, JHU Office of Communications announced, that the university is “establishing a cutting-edge crystal growth facility as part of a national research project meant to revolutionize technology used in consumer products”. Our brand-new 300 bar HKZ version is part of this project. As described in the news release, “a key part of the new Johns Hopkins crystal growth center will be a new piece of laboratory equipment now being custom built in Germany. …The machine will allow researchers to put materials under enormous pressure — up to 300 times normal atmospheric pressure”.

https://o...

Floating zone growth of Ba-substituted strontium ruthenates

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

The crystal growth group from Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden succeeded recently in the synthesis of barium-substituted strontium ruthernates using a ScIDre high-pressure floating zone furnace HKZ.

High quality single crystals of Ba-substituted ruthenate Sr2-xBaxRuO4, the "large volume variant" of the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4, were grown at the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden for x-values up to 0.4. The heavy evaporation of RuO2 during the growth procedure could be handled by Ru-excess y in the feed rod which acts as s...

Ferrimagnetic quantum paraelectric compound was grown by high pressure floating zone method and analysed with neutron diffraction.

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

**High quality single crystals of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ were grown at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, USA, using the ScIDre HKZ floating zone furnace with 100 atm of flowing oxygen. **

In a paper which was published end of June 2015 and selected as an Featured Article in APL Materials (APL Materials 3, 062512, 2015), the authors H. B. Cao, Z. Y. Zhao, M. Lee, E. S. Choi, M. A. McGuire, B. C. Sales, H. D. Zhou, J.-Q. Yan and D. G. Mandrus report the growth procedure and a detailed neutron diffraction study of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ single crystals. This compound is particularly interesting because it exhi...

Cobalt oxide with brownmillerite structure discovered using the HKZ

Posted in Publications on Feb 21, 2025.

Heretofore unknown cobalt oxide with brownmillerite structure discovered in Argonne National Lab using the ScIDre HKZ floating zone furnace.

Various complex oxides and intermetallic compounds have been successfully grown with the HKZ floating zone furnace, yielding surpassing quality single crystals. However, the discovery of new materials with exceptional properties remains a claim to fame. Recently, a completely new cobalt oxide was synthesized in the Emerging Materials Group at Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, USA. The scientists were able to grow single crystals of heretofore elusive...