Optimization of the crystal growth of the superconductor CaKFe4As4 from solution in the FeAs-CaFe2As2-KFe2As2 system

W. R. Meier; T. Kong; S. L. Bud'Ko; P. C. Canfield

doi:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.1.013401

Optimization of the crystal growth of the superconductor CaKFe4As4 from solution in the FeAs-CaFe2As2-KFe2As2 system

W. R. Meier, T. Kong, S. L. Bud'Ko, P. C. Canfield

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

67 Scopus citations

Abstract

Measurements of the anisotropic properties of single crystals play a crucial role in probing the physics of new materials. Determining a growth protocol that yields suitable high-quality single crystals can be particularly challenging for multicomponent compounds. Here we present a case study of how we refined a procedure to grow single crystals of CaKFe4As4 from a high temperature, quaternary liquid solution rich in iron and arsenic ("FeAs self-flux"). Temperature dependent resistance and magnetization measurements are emphasized, in addition to the x-ray diffraction, to detect intergrown CaKFe4As4, CaFe2As2, and KFe2As2 within what appear to be single crystals. Guided by the rules of phase equilibria and these data, we adjusted growth parameters to suppress formation of the impurity phases. The resulting optimized procedure yielded phase-pure single crystals of CaKFe4As4. This optimization process offers insight into the growth of quaternary compounds and a glimpse of the four-component phase diagram in the pseudoternary FeAs-CaFe2As2-KFe2As2 system.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	013401
Journal	Physical Review Materials
Volume	1
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.1.013401
State	Published - Jun 19 2017
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Materials Science(all)
Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.1.013401

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title = "Optimization of the crystal growth of the superconductor CaKFe4As4 from solution in the FeAs-CaFe2As2-KFe2As2 system",

abstract = "Measurements of the anisotropic properties of single crystals play a crucial role in probing the physics of new materials. Determining a growth protocol that yields suitable high-quality single crystals can be particularly challenging for multicomponent compounds. Here we present a case study of how we refined a procedure to grow single crystals of CaKFe4As4 from a high temperature, quaternary liquid solution rich in iron and arsenic ({"}FeAs self-flux{"}). Temperature dependent resistance and magnetization measurements are emphasized, in addition to the x-ray diffraction, to detect intergrown CaKFe4As4, CaFe2As2, and KFe2As2 within what appear to be single crystals. Guided by the rules of phase equilibria and these data, we adjusted growth parameters to suppress formation of the impurity phases. The resulting optimized procedure yielded phase-pure single crystals of CaKFe4As4. This optimization process offers insight into the growth of quaternary compounds and a glimpse of the four-component phase diagram in the pseudoternary FeAs-CaFe2As2-KFe2As2 system.",

author = "Meier, {W. R.} and T. Kong and Bud'Ko, {S. L.} and Canfield, {P. C.}",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank A. B{\"o}hmer for her assistance with preparation of this paper. In addition, we thank A. Kreyssig and G. Drachuck for useful discussions and experimental assistance. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Science, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering. The research was performed at the Ames Laboratory. Ames Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Iowa State University under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358. W.M. was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundations EPiQS Initiative through Grant No. GBMF4411. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 American Physical Society.",

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AU - Canfield, P. C.

N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank A. Böhmer for her assistance with preparation of this paper. In addition, we thank A. Kreyssig and G. Drachuck for useful discussions and experimental assistance. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Science, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering. The research was performed at the Ames Laboratory. Ames Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Iowa State University under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358. W.M. was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundations EPiQS Initiative through Grant No. GBMF4411. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 American Physical Society.

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N2 - Measurements of the anisotropic properties of single crystals play a crucial role in probing the physics of new materials. Determining a growth protocol that yields suitable high-quality single crystals can be particularly challenging for multicomponent compounds. Here we present a case study of how we refined a procedure to grow single crystals of CaKFe4As4 from a high temperature, quaternary liquid solution rich in iron and arsenic ("FeAs self-flux"). Temperature dependent resistance and magnetization measurements are emphasized, in addition to the x-ray diffraction, to detect intergrown CaKFe4As4, CaFe2As2, and KFe2As2 within what appear to be single crystals. Guided by the rules of phase equilibria and these data, we adjusted growth parameters to suppress formation of the impurity phases. The resulting optimized procedure yielded phase-pure single crystals of CaKFe4As4. This optimization process offers insight into the growth of quaternary compounds and a glimpse of the four-component phase diagram in the pseudoternary FeAs-CaFe2As2-KFe2As2 system.

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Optimization of the crystal growth of the superconductor CaKFe4As4 from solution in the FeAs-CaFe2As2-KFe2As2 system

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