Crystal growth of YBa2Cu3O7 by the SRL-CP method under low oxygen partial pressure atmosphere

Single crystals of YBa2Cu3O7−x (Y123) were grown by a modified top-seeded crystal pulling method using a BaO-CuO solution with the solid Y2BaCuO5 (Y211) as a solute in an yttria crucible [the so-called solute-rich liquid crystal pulling (SRL-CP) method] under 2% oxygen partial pressure atmosphere [P(O2) = 0.02 atm]. According to the pseudo-binary phase diagrams of Lee and Lee,1 the temperature of Y123 crystal growth was expected to be lower for 0.02 atm oxygen pressure than for 0.21 atm oxygen pressure. The single crystals grown under P(O2) = 0.02 atm and cooled under the same atmosphere after the separation of crystal from a solution had twins near the microcracks on the crystal surface. On the other hand, the single crystals grown under P(O2) = 0.02 atm and cooled under pure nitrogen atmosphere (6N) showed no twin structure. These results indicate that twins did not form during crystal growth but formed due to tetragonal-orthorhombic transition as a consequence of oxygenation at cooling under low oxygen partial pressure.