Floating zone growth of eutectic Srn+1RunO3n+1 crystals

A novel route to engineer Sr2RuO4/Sr3Ru2O7 and Sr3Ru2O7/Sr4Ru3O10 natural junctions has been successfully pursued by eutectic solidification in a double-mirror optical floating zone furnace in the flux feeding floating zone configuration with Ru self-flux. The synthesis procedure of the polycrystalline rod is found to be a critical factor for the crystal growth. Both eutectic systems grow in the [100] direction and cleave in the a-b plane as the single phase crystals. Extensive XRD and SEM studies show that the nature of the eutectic solidification enables the displacement of the two phases in an ordered lamellar pattern piling up along the crystallographic c-axis. (C) 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim