Rare earth hexaborides: large single crystals

Single crystals of the rare earth hexaborides have been grown successfully by the floating zone technique using a high-power Xenon arc Image furnace. Large, high-quality crystals up to 1 cc in volume have been obtained for several rare earth hexaborides by this method. Crystals of these compounds have also been grown using enriched 11B isotope for use in neutron scattering studies. The crystal growth and characterisation of these crystals are reported in the paper