X- ray and AFM studies of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x single-crystals grown by different methods

authors	Bdikin, IK; Maljuk, AN; Kulakov, AB; Lin, CT; Kumar, P; Kumar, B; Trigunayat, GC; Emel'chenko, GA; Kholkin, AL
nationality	International
journal	JOURNAL OF CRYSTAL GROWTH
author keywords	X-ray diffraction; Atomic force microscopy; Single-crystal growth; Perovskites
abstract	The Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (2 2 1 2) compound is a very promising material to study the phenomenon of high-T-c superconductivity. Since a major requirement for reliable measurement of physical properties of this material is the availability of high quality and large size single crystals, four different methods, viz. slow cooling (SC), Bridgman, top seeded solution growth (TSSG) and travelling solvent floating zone (TSFZ), were employed for growing these crystals. However, only the TSFZ technique is a crucible-free method and, therefore, allows the production of contamination-free Bi-2212 crystals. We report results of systematic X-ray investigations of the Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (2212) single crystals grown by SC, TSSG and TSFZ methods. The typical concentrations of dislocations in the Bi-2212 crystals are estimated from the width of peaks. According to the obtained X-ray topography and diffractometry data, these crystals demonstrate misorientation anisotropy around different crystallographic axes, which is a consequence of incommensurate modulation in this compound. The surface quality has been studied by atomic force microscopy. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
publisher	ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
issn	0022-0248
year published	2005
volume	275
issue	1-2
beginning page	E1799
ending page	E1805
digital object identifier (doi)	10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2004.11.252
web of science category	Crystallography; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Physics, Applied
subject category	Crystallography; Materials Science; Physics
unique article identifier	WOS:000208324600291