Compositional Studies of Metals with Complex Order by means of the Optical Floating-Zone Technique

Abstract

The availability of large high-quality single crystals is an important prerequisite for many studies in solid-state research. The optical floating-zone technique is an elegant method to grow such crystals, offering potential to prepare samples that may be hardly accessible with other techniques. As elaborated in this report, examples include single crystals with intentional compositional gradients, deliberate off-stoichiometry, or complex metallurgy. For the cubic chiral magnets Mn${}_{1-x}$Fe${}_x$Si and Fe${}_{1-x}$Co${}_x$Si, we prepared single crystals in which the composition was varied during growth from $x=0-0.15$ and from $x=0.1-0.3$, respectively. Such samples allowed us to efficiently study the evolution of the magnetic properties as a function of composition, as demonstrated by means of neutron scattering. For the archetypical chiral magnet MnSi and the itinerant antiferromagnet CrB${}_2$, we grew single crystals with varying initial manganese (0.99 to 1.04) and boron (1.95 to 2.1) content. Measurements of the low-temperature properties addressed the correlation between magnetic transition temperature and sample quality. Furthermore, we prepared single crystals of the diborides ErB${}_2$, MnB${}_2$, and VB${}_2$. In addition to high vapor pressures, these materials suffer from peritectic formation, potential decomposition, and high melting temperature, respectively.

16 pages, 13 figures

References in corpus (23)

• Skyrmion Lattice in a Chiral Magnet
• Spin Transfer Torques in MnSi at Ultra-low Current Densities
• Theory of current-driven motion of Skyrmions and spirals in helical magnets
• Skyrmion Lattice in a Doped Semiconductor
• Particle model for skyrmions in metallic chiral magnets: dynamics, pinning and creep
• Skyrmions with varying size and helicity in composition-spread helimagnetic alloys
• Magnetic phase diagram of MnSi inferred from magnetization and ac susceptibility
• Capturing of a Magnetic Skyrmion with a Hole
• Specific heat of the skyrmion lattice phase and field-induced tricritical point in MnSi
• Entropy-limited topological protection of skyrmions
• Formation of a topological non-Fermi liquid in MnSi
• Symmetry breaking, slow relaxation dynamics, and topological defects at the field-induced helix reorientation in MnSi
• History dependence of the magnetic properties of single-crystal Fe${}_{1-x}$Co${}_x$Si
• Chiral criticality in doped Mn${}_{1-y}$Fe${}_y$Si compounds
• The multi-purpose three-axis spectrometer (TAS) MIRA at FRM II
• Low-temperature properties of single-crystal CrB${}_2$
• Positron spectroscopy of point defects in the skyrmion-lattice compound MnSi
• Evolution of magneto-crystalline anisotropies in Mn${}_{1-x}$Fe${}_x$Si and Mn${}_{1-x}$Co${}_x$Si as inferred from small-angle neutron scattering and bulk properties
• Ultra-high vacuum compatible preparation chain for intermetallic compounds
• Smectic to nematic transition of magnetic texture in conical state
• High-resolution neutron depolarization microscopy of the ferromagnetic transitions in Ni${}_3$Al and HgCr${}_2$Se${}_4$ under pressure
• Ultra-high vacuum compatible induction-heated rod casting furnace
• De Haas-van Alphen effect and Fermi surface properties of single crystal CrB2

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Chirality-selected crystal growth and spin polarization over centimeters of transition metal disilicide crystals