Crystal growth of a lamellar Sr3Ru2O7-Sr4Ru3O10 eutectic system

Lamellar eutectic crystals of Sr3Ru2O7-Sr4Ru3O10 have been successfully grown 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. The eutectic dark-brown crystals grow in the [100] direction and cleave in the a-b plane as the single phase crystals. The morphology, structure, phase purity, and composition of the samples were analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results from backscattered electron (BSE) imaging as well as from energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) were combined with the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data to obtain complementary chemical and crystallographic information. Moreover, XRD analysis indicated that the Sr3Ru2O7 and Sr4Ru3O10 phases match the same crystal with parallel in-plane and out-of-plane lattice parameters. The resistance measurements showed a Fermi liquid behavior at low temperatures analogous to the one found in the single phases. We grew eutectic crystals representing natural junctions made of metamagnetic Sr3Ru2O7 and ferromagnetic Sr4Ru3O10 that may be useful in studies of possible novel quantum critical phenomena specific to itinerant magnetism systems.