High pO<sub>2</sub> Floating Zone Crystal Growth of the Perovskite Nickelate PrNiO<sub>3</sub>
Hong Zheng,
Junjie Zhang,
Bixia Wang,
Daniel Phelan,
Matthew J. Krogstad,
Yang Ren,
W. Adam Phelan,
Omar Chmaissem,
Bisham Poudel,
J. F. Mitchell
Affiliations
Hong Zheng
Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Junjie Zhang
Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Bixia Wang
Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Daniel Phelan
Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Matthew J. Krogstad
Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Yang Ren
Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
W. Adam Phelan
Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis and Discovery of Interface Materials (PARADIM), Department of chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Omar Chmaissem
Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Bisham Poudel
Department of Physics, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL 60115, USA
J. F. Mitchell
Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
Single crystals of PrNiO3 were grown under an oxygen pressure of 295 bar using a unique high-pressure optical-image floating zone furnace. The crystals, with volume in excess of 1 mm3, were characterized structurally using single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. Resistivity, specific heat, and magnetic susceptibility were measured, all of which evidenced an abrupt, first order metal-insulator transition (MIT) at ~130 K, in agreement with previous literature reports on polycrystalline specimens. Temperature-dependent single crystal diffraction was performed to investigate changes through the MIT. Our study demonstrates the opportunity space for high fugacity, reactive environments for single crystal growth specifically of perovskite nickelates but more generally to correlated electron oxides.
