Rare earth hexaborides: large single crystals

Abstract Single crystals of the rare earth hexaborides have been grown successfully by the floating zone technique using a high-power Xenon arc Image furnace. Large, high-quality crystals up to 1 cc in volume have been obtained for several rare earth hexaborides by this method. Crystals of these compounds have also been grown using enriched 11 B isotope for use in neutron scattering studies. The crystal growth and characterisation of these crystals are reported in the paper.