Some experiments on the crystal growth and characterization of Fe(17)R(2) (R equals rare earth) single crystals by the Bridgman method

The growth of single crystals of the Fe(17)R(2) phase, R = rare earth, presents severe difficulties associated with the general peritectic formation of these phases, the volatility of the rare earths and their high reactivity. In order to avoid these problems in such experiments using Bridgman growth, we used a high pressure induction furnace, developed and tested crucibles of CaO, CaF2 and rare earth oxides like Nd2O3 and Sm2O3. The CaO crucibles were disregarded because of strong reaction-dissolution. The CaF2 crucibles were convenient only for the light rare earths due to their low melting points, but even for these it presented dissolution problems. The rare earth oxides presented dissolution problems for the light rare earths compounds, but worked well for the heavy ones, resulting in high quality single crystals.