Abstract
The synthesis and single-crystal growth of a rare-earth high-entropy oxide (Yb0.2Tb0.2Gd0.2Dy0.2Er0.2)2Ti2O7 in the cubic pyrochlore phase Fd3¯m are achieved by solid-state reaction and optical floating-zone growth techniques. X-ray diffraction and a structure refinement analysis confirm a single-phase pyrochlore structure and lattice parameter of a=10.1152(3)Å. Additional characterization techniques, including scanning transmission electron microscopy and nanoscale electron-energy loss spectroscopy mapping, support a single-phase pyrochlore structure with a homogeneous mixture down to ∼2.3 nm. Magnetization measurements on a single crystal reveal antiferromagnetic correlations with a spin-glass ground state. These results show that it is possible to grow large single crystals of a high entropy pyrochlore oxide, expanding the avenues for future high-entropy oxide research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 104411 |
| Journal | Physical Review Materials |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 19 2020 |
Funding
D.M. acknowledges support from the Gordon and Betty Moore 385 Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative Grant No. GBMF9069. J.-Q.Y. acknowledges support from the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division. H.D.Z. acknowledges support by the Department of Energy (DOE) under Award No. DE-SC-0020254. X.R.D. was performed at the Diffraction Facility of the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials (JIAM) at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The STEM work in this research was conducted at the ORNL's Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. A portion of this work was also performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which is supported by the National Science Foundation through Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-1644779 and the State of Florida. We thank Dr. Michael Koehler, Dr. Deepak Sapkota, Dr. Ganesh Pokharel, and Dr. Zhiling Dun for their helpful discussions on the data presented in this report.