Ultra-high vacuum compatible induction-heated rod casting furnace

We report the design of a radio-frequency induction-heated rod casting furnace that permits the preparation of polycrystalline ingots of intermetallic compounds under ultra-high vacuum compatible conditions. The central part of the system is a bespoke water-cooled Hukin crucible supporting a casting...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of scientific instruments 2016-06, Vol.87 (6), p.063909-063909
Main Authors: Bauer, A., Neubauer, A., Münzer, W., Regnat, A., Benka, G., Meven, M., Pedersen, B., Pfleiderer, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antiferromagnetism
Crucibles
Crystal growth
Crystals
Ferromagnetism
High vacuum
Ingot casting
Intermetallic compounds
Scientific apparatus & instruments
Single crystals
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Summary:We report the design of a radio-frequency induction-heated rod casting furnace that permits the preparation of polycrystalline ingots of intermetallic compounds under ultra-high vacuum compatible conditions. The central part of the system is a bespoke water-cooled Hukin crucible supporting a casting mold. Depending on the choice of the mold, typical rods have a diameter between 6 mm and 10 mm and a length up to 90 mm, suitable for single-crystal growth by means of float-zoning. The setup is all-metal sealed and may be baked out. We find that the resulting ultra-high vacuum represents an important precondition for processing compounds with high vapor pressures under a high-purity argon atmosphere up to 3 bars. Using the rod casting furnace, we succeeded to prepare large high-quality single crystals of two half-Heusler compounds, namely, the itinerant antiferromagnet CuMnSb and the half-metallic ferromagnet NiMnSb.
ISSN:0034-6748
1089-7623
DOI:10.1063/1.4954926