Single crystal growth and variation of thermodynamic and magnetic properties of Pr1−x La x AlO3 (x =0, 0.8)

Two approaches to using optical floating zone (OFZ) technique for single crystal growth of the perovskite Pr1−xLaxAlO3 are discussed, along with the influence on the physical properties of the resulting single crystals due to oxidizing and reducing post anneals. In method one (M1) we used pre-reduced Pr2O3 powder starting material, while in the other method, M2, we employed an argon 5% hydrogen reducing environment during the floating zone single crystal growth. Magnetic susceptibility of the low temperature monoclinic phase of Pr0.2La0.8AlO3 is shown to be sensitive to the precise annealing protocol followed. For the post-growth reduced single crystal the magnetic susceptibility is flat across the R-3c to C2/m structural transition, whereas the oxidized and as-grown samples display a sharp upturn and downturn, respectively. We attribute the low temperature susceptibility differences to relative proportions of Pr3+ and Pr4+.