High-temperature solution growth of intermetallic single crystals and quasicrystals

Solution growth continues to be one of the most powerful techniques for the production of single crystals for basic and applied research. It is a versatile technique that allows for the growth of congruently and incongruently melting materials with equal ease. The primary requirement for growth is that there be an exposed primary solidification surface in the appropriate equilibrium alloy phase diagram. In this paper, we will review some of the systems that we have applied this technique to over the past several years. These range from binary and ternary intermetallic compounds such as RFe2 (R = Rare earth) and RT2Ge2 (T = Ni and Cu) to the refractory RNi2B2C family of magnetic superconductors to several families of quasicrystals. In each case, specific nuances of the relatively simple growth technique will be discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.