Single crystal growth of several rare earth hexaborides has been carried out by the floating zone technique. A high power Xenon arc lamp image furnace was used for the crystal growth. Large high quality crystals of LaB$_{ 6}$, CeB$_{ 6}$, PrB$_{ 6}$ and NdB$_{ 6}$, about 1 cc in volume have been obtained. Crystals of all these compounds have also been grown using enriched $^{ 11}$B isotope for use in neutron scattering experiments.
Categories: cond-mat.str-el cond-mat.mtrl-sci