Single crystal growth and physical properties of superconducting ferro-pnictides Ba(Fe, Co)2As2 grown using self-flux and Bridgman techniques

We have employed the high temperature solutions growth technique and the Bridgman technique to grow cm-size high-quality single crystals of pristine BaFe2As2(Ba122) and its Co-doped superconducting variants. In the first approach, self-flux (Fe, Co)As was used to achieve a homogeneous melt of composition Ba(Fe, Co)(3.1)As-3.1 at T=1463 K. The melt was then cooled slowly under a temperature gradient in a double-wall crucible assembly to obtain large and flux-free single crystals of Ba(Fe, Co)(2)As-2. In the second approach, single crystals were grown directly from a stoichiometric Ba(Fe, Co)(2)As-2 melt at T=1723 K employing the Bridgman technique associated with a vertical tube furnace. Using both techniques single crystals with lateral dimensions up to 25 x 10 mm(2) and thickness up to 1 mm were obtained. Details of the two methods are given and a comparative study of the magnetic and transport properties of the single crystals obtained using the two methods is presented. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.