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 evaporation during the growth. The obtained crystals were thoroughly characterized by x-ray, neutron, susceptibility, electrical transport, and specific heat measurements.

https://journals.aps.org/prmaterials/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.1.044005