Use of frit-disc crucibles for routine and exploratory solution growth of single crystalline samples

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple, cost-effective alumina frit-disc crucible design that enables clean separation of residual solution from crystals in high-temperature solution growth, improving purity and reusability.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel alumina frit-disc crucible set that simplifies and improves the solution growth process of single crystals by enabling contamination-free separation.

Findings

Frit-disc crucibles allow clean separation of residual solution from crystals.

Reused decanted liquid can be used for further crystal growth.

Successful growth of various intermetallics and quasicrystals using the new method.

Abstract

Solution growth of single crystals from high temperature solutions often involves the separation of residual solution from the grown crystals. For many growths of intermetallic compounds, this separation has historically been achieved with the use of plugs of silica wool. Whereas this is generally efficient in a mechanical sense, it leads to a significant contamination of the decanted liquid with silica fibers. In this paper we present a simple design for frit-disc alumina crucible sets that has made their use in the growth single crystals from high temperature solutions both simple and affordable. An alumina frit-disc allows for the clean separation of the residual liquid from the solid phase. This allows for the reuse of the decanted liquid, either for further growth of the same phase, or for subsequent growth of other, related phases. In this paper we provide examples of the growth of isotopically substituted TbCd$_{6}$ and icosahedral i-$R$Cd quasicrystals, as well as the separation of (i) the closely related Bi$_{2}$Rh$_{3}$S$_{2}$ and Bi$_{2}$Rh$_{3.5}$S$_{2}$ phases and (ii) PrZn$_{11}$ and Pr$_{2}$Zn$_{17}$.