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 single crystal XRD at different temperatures, heat capacity, electric-transport, and magnetization measurements.

https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.104104