Abstract
We report the single-crystal growth of the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4, on which research has reached a turning point recently. In order to optimize the quality of crystals grown by the floating-zone method using an infrared image furnace, we focus on an improvement of the structure of the filament in the halogen lamps. By reducing the thickness of the total filament, the form of the molten zone was narrowed. More importantly, the molten zone was observed to be more stable during the growth process. Finally, we obtained the crystals with a length of 12 cm. Additionally, the grown crystal has high quality, displaying the 1.5 K transition temperature expected only for the purest crystals. We also discuss the availability of the newly developed halogen lamps.
Highlights
We report the single-crystal growth of the unconventional superconductor Sr2 RuO4, on which research has reached a turning point recently
We report progress in the crystal growth in Sr2 RuO4 with a focus on the benefits brought by improved halogen lamps in an infrared image furnace
We focus on another parameter, the molten zone itself, which has not been paid as much attention regarding the growth of ruthenates since the early work in the second half of the 1990s
Summary
Since the discovery of the superconductivity in the layered perovskite ruthenate. Sr2 RuO4 in 1994 [1], the material has attracted much attention because of the novel superconductivity with the transition temperature (Tc ) of 1.50 K [2,3,4]. A long range ordered magnetism has been induced under extreme strain (>1 GPa) [29] and seen to be neighboring the superconducting phase. All of this has stimulated widespread new interest in obtaining a full understanding of the unconventional superconductivity [30,31]. The experimental techniques for studying Sr2 RuO4 vary from microscopic to macroscopic methods, from ambient pressure to applied uniaxial stress/hydrostatic pressure, and high-quality crystals have been in high demand for experiments aiming to reveal intrinsic properties. We report progress in the crystal growth in Sr2 RuO4 with a focus on the benefits brought by improved halogen lamps in an infrared image furnace
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