Hetero-seed and hetero-feed single crystal growth of Sm_xDy_1−xFeO₃ perovskites based on optical floating zone method

We studied samarium-dysprosium rare-earth orthoferrites Sm_xDy_1−xFeO₃ (SDFO, x = 0–1, interval 0.1) with 11 different x concentration values. All of the SDFO single crystals were successfully grown by a hetero-seed and hetero-feed optical-floating-zone technique in flowing air. The XRD powder patterns illustrate that the lattice mismatch of two samples with Δx = 0.1 is about 0.1–0.2% in ac plane, which is considered appropriate for our hetero-seed and hetero-feed crystal growth. Thus, we could successfully grow the series of SDFO single crystals continuously, for example, the x = 0.8 single crystal was grown on the x = 0.7 seed rod. X-ray back-reflection Laue photographs indicate good quality of all the as-grown SDFO single crystals. Composition analysis of SDFO single crystals were conducted by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), which demonstrate the accurate cation stoichiometry for each crystal. Moreover, we show that such crystal system possesses particular anisotropic magnetic property. The hetero-seed growth method and hetero-feed single crystal relay growth based on optical-floating-zone technique will be useful in high-throughput crystal materials growth.