The crystal structure of single crystalline PrCa4O[BO3]3

Abstract

Abstract PrCa4O[BO3]3 was grown as a single crystal by the Czochralski method. The precursor material was synthesized by solid state reaction under O2 atmosphere and sintered after grinding under N2 atmosphere with a content of 20% H2. The Czochralski crystal growth proceeded under N2 atmosphere with an <010> oriented GdCa4O[BO3]3 crystal seed. A PrCa4O[BO3]3 crystal with a cylinder length of 20 mm, a diameter of 15 mm, and weight of 23.1 g was obtained. The crystal structure was solved from single crystal X-ray diffraction data in the monoclinic crystal system with space group C1m1 (No. 8), the lattice parameters a = 8.1293(6) Å, b = 16.062(1) Å, c = 3.6023(2) Å, β = 101.371(2)°, formula units of 2 and final R- and wR2-values below 3.8%. A mixed occupancy between Pr and Ca of 6.0% was found.