Abstract
A method for growing large, well-defined, visually flawless, oriented, single crystals (cylindrical boules at least 42 mm diam ×45 mm long) of neodymium ethyl sulfate 9 hydrate [Nd(C2H5SO4)3⋅9H2O (NES)] is described. A discussion of NES synthesis and solution stability is given. The single crystals were grown in Teflon-lined Pyrex containers in thermostats (held at 8 or 28°C) using H2SO4 (98 wt.%) to remove H2O. At 28 °C,the growth rate was 0.72 or 0.95 g NES/day; at 8 °C it was 0.40 g NES/day. The only detected impurity in the crystals was Na at ∼1500 at. ppm relative to Nd. One of the crystals was shaped into a sphere and used in a low temperature magnetothermodynamic investigation with fields along the c crystal axis. This study showed the stoichiometry to be off (possibly due to small solution inclusions) by −0.28±0.08% (confirmed by chemical analysis) in terms of moles of Nd resulting from a given crystal weight. Small translucent regions in the crystals grown at 28 °C were absent in the crystal grown at 8 °C, which was visually flawless and completely transparent.
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