Single crystal growth of europium and ytterbium based intermetallic compounds using metal flux technique

Abstract

This article covers the use of indium as a potential metal solvent for the crystal growth of europium and ytterbium-based intermetallic compounds. A brief view about the advantage of metal flux technique and the use of indium as reactive and non-reactive flux are outlined. Large single crystals of EuGe₂, EuCoGe₃ and Yb₂AuGe₃ compounds were obtained in high yield from the reactions of the elements in liquid indium. The results presented here demonstrate that considerable advances in the discovery of single crystal growth of complex phases are achievable utilizing molten metals as solvents.