Growth, characterization, and magnetic properties of a Li(Mn,Ni)PO sub(4) single crystal

LiMn sub(0.95)Ni sub(0.05)PO sub(4) single crystals have been grown for the first time by the travelling-solvent floating-zone method at low argon pressure. The grown sample exhibits large single crystalline grains as revealed by means of polarization microscopy, X-ray Laue back scattering, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The composition of the crystal was determined by Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. LiMn sub(0.95)Ni sub(0.05)PO sub(4) orders in an orthorhombic olivine-like structure as expected and phase purity was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction. An oriented cuboid with size of 2.4 x 2.5 x 2.7 mm super(3) along a, b, and c crystalline directions, respectively, was used for anisotropic magnetic measurements.