Floating zone growth and magnetic properties of Y2C two-dimensional electride

• First success of growth of Y2C, 2D-electride, through floating zone process.
• Determination of phase relationship in Y–C system to achieve crystal growth.
• Revealing the absence of ferromagnetism in hexagonal Y2C.

The floating zone method was used to obtain single crystals several mm in size of the low-temperature rhombohedral form of Y2C rather than its typical rocksalt-type cubic form. This was achieved through optimization of the chemical compositions of the starting materials with the aim of producing a two-dimensional electride material. The crystals obtained exhibited a paramagnetic temperature-dependence at 1.8–300 K, with no trace of any obvious magnetic ordering.