Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 228, 703–712 (2019)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2019-800197-8

Regular Article

Effect of different atmospheres on the synthesis of Ba₂CuGe₂O₇ single crystals

¹ Dipartimento di Fisica “E.R. Caianiello”, Universitá di Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
² CNR-SPIN, 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
³ Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK

^a e-mail: granata@fisica.unisa.it

Received: 14 November 2018
Received in final form: 22 January 2019
Published online: 3 July 2019

Abstract

Morphological, compositional and magnetic properties of single crystals of Ba₂CuGe₂O₇ grown in oxygen and in dry air have been investigated. It is shown that the use of different atmospheres influences the morphological and compositional characteristics, probably because of some secondary reactions, that occur on the surface of the sample when oxygen is used, but it does not change the structural and magnetic properties. In the case of samples grown in oxygen, a thin, dark superficial layer forms. In this layer impurity particles of BaCu₂Ge₂O₇ are present, while the core is formed by pure Ba₂CuGe₂O₇.