Crystal Growth of High‐melting Multi‐component Rare Earth‐Transition Metal Intermetallic Compounds from the Melt

The crystal growth of different classes of high melting multi‐component Rare Earth‐Transition Metal‐Compounds by vertical floating zone melting with inductive heating has been investigated. Phase diagram features of the multi‐component systems relevant for the crystallization process have been revealed. The critical zone travelling rate for RENi₂B₂C crystal growth is one order of magnitude smaller than for RE₂TMSi₃ compounds. This is attributed to different solidification modes of both classes of compounds, peritectic and congruent melting, respectively. The crystal perfection, element segregation and selected properties of the bulk crystals such as critical temperature of superconductivity were studied as function of the axis co‐ordinate. In the case of RE₂TMSi₂ plate‐like RESi or RESi₂ precipitates were detected in the single crystalline matrix. They were partially dissolved by annealing and subsequent quenching. The anisotropy of various superconducting and magnetic properties was determined at YNi₂B₂C and TbNi₂B₂C single crystalline specimens.