Laser floating zone growth of SrVO$_3$ single crystals

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the successful growth of high-quality SrVO$_3$ single crystals using laser floating zone technique, revealing their structural and compositional properties relevant for electronic and catalytic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of laser floating zone growth for SrVO$_3$ single crystals, enabling controlled stoichiometry and large single-domain crystals.

Findings

Single crystals up to 30 mm in length were obtained.

Stoichiometry can be tuned by adjusting pulling rate.

Heat capacity varies with composition, indicating impurity and phonon effects.

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.