Executive Summary : | Intermetallic systems are of importance for many applications as well as for fundamental studies. We have been preparing these materials in polycrystalline form for the study of first order magnetic transition, quantum criticality, magnetocaloric properties etc. However, materials in single-crystalline form are a necessary requirement for many experiments e.g. de-Haas van alphen effect, de-shubnikov De-Haas effect Angle Resolved Photoelectron spectroscopy, anisotropic properties. In addition to it, single crystals are free from grain boundaries and generally less disordered, therefore providing deeper insight of the system properties. This is an important factor, when studying competing interactions resulting in novel phases e.g. discovery of multiple transitions in Mnsi single crystal, superconductivity in CePd2si2 single crystal which were detected once good quality single crystals became available. Here, we propose to upgrade our existing tri-arc-melting facility used for the preparation of intermetallic polycrystalline samples. For this Czochralski based single crystal growth will be used by adding a sample preparation chamber, crystal puller etc. The technique is suitable for preparing materials with high processing temperatures. To start with rare-earth-transition metal intermetallic systems Ln-T-Al and Ln-T-Ge (Ln = La-Lu; T = Ag, Au, Pd, Pt) will be prepared to explore the effect of geometric frustration (distorted Kagome-lattice) and lattice-dimensionality on magnetic ground state and nature of quantum criticality. In addition to it, Heusler alloys Co-Mn-(Al, si, Ge) systems are proposed to investigate the structure-magnetic-electronic state relationship. The facility will be useful for a large community of researchers in India (as per our institute mandate) working in intermetallic systems. |
Co-PI: | Dr. Arvind Kumar Yogi, UGC-DAEConsortium For scientific Research, Indore, Madhya Pradesh-452001, Dr. sanjay singh, Indian Institute Of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh-221005 |