The crystal structure of single crystalline PrCa4O[BO3]3

Abstract PrCa 4 O[BO 3 ] 3 was grown as a single crystal by the Czochralski method. The precursor material was synthesized by solid state reaction under O 2 atmosphere and sintered after grinding under N 2 atmosphere with a content of 20% H 2 . The Czochralski crystal growth proceeded under N 2 atmosphere with an <010> oriented GdCa 4 O[BO 3 ] 3 crystal seed. A PrCa 4 O[BO 3 ] 3 crystal with a cylinder length of 20 mm, a diameter of 15 mm, and weight of 23.1 g was obtained. The crystal structure was solved from single crystal X-ray diffraction data in the monoclinic crystal system with space group C 1 m 1 (No. 8), the lattice parameters a = 8.1293(6) Å, b = 16.062(1) Å, c = 3.6023(2) Å, β = 101.371(2)°, formula units of 2 and final R - and w R 2-values below 3.8%. A mixed occupancy between Pr and Ca of 6.0% was found.