Laser floating zone growth of SrVO${}_3$ single crystals

Abstract

The perovskite SrVO${}_3$ is of interest for a variety of applications due to its simple metallic character and stability in reducing environments. Here we report the preparation of single-crystal SrVO${}_3$ using the laser floating zone technique. Laue diffraction implies single domains ca. 30 mm in length. The stoichiometry of optimized crystals was found to be Sr${}_{0.985}$VO${}_{2.91}$ using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and neutron powder diffraction analysis, with compositions adjustable depending on the crystal pulling rate. Heat capacity measurements from 2 to 300 K show variations with composition, attributable to a combination of impurity scattering and changes in phonon dynamics.Our results demonstrate the utility of the laser floating zone technique in preparing a range of materials, and our advances with SrVO${}_3$ may help lead to applications including catalysis, transparent conducting oxides, thermionic emitters, and other electronic devices.

arXiv comment17 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (5)

• The Geometric Blueprint of Perovskites
• Understanding and controlling the work function of perovskite oxides using Density Functional Theory
• Band-width control in a perovskite-type 3d^1 correlated metal Ca_{1-x}Sr_xVO_3. I. Evolution of the electronic properties and effective mass
• Impact of Stoichiometry of Yb2Ti2O7 on its Physical Properties
• Introduction of spin centers in single crystals of Ba${}_2$CaWO${}_{6-\delta }$