Single crystal growth and characterization of nearly stoichiometric LiVO2

LiVO{sub 2} undergoes an imperfectly understood orbital ordering transition near 500 K resulting in a loss of magnetic moment below the transition. Studies of the transition have been hampered by a lack of high-quality stoichiometric single crystals. Here we report the growth and basic characterization of large, nearly stoichiometric LiVO{sub 2} single crystals. The crystals were characterized by magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, differential scanning calorimetry, and specific heat measurements over a temperature range from 2 to 650 K. A first-order phase transition with large hysteresis near T{sub t}{approx}500 K was observed in all measurements. An anisotropy of the order of 100 was observed in the in-plane versus out-of-plane resistivity, and the inferred semiconducting energy gap was 0.18 eV for T<T{sub t} and 0.14 eV for T<T{sub t}. Electron diffraction experiments were performed on LiVO{sub 2} single crystals at temperatures below and above T{sub t}. Superlattice reflections were observed below T{sub t} and disappeared upon heating above the phase transition temperature. Upon cooling below T{sub t}, the supperlattice spots reappeared. Bright field electron micrographs indicate that the crystals develop a roughly hexagonal network of cracks.