Single crystal growth of CuFe1−xGaxO2 by the optical floating-zone method

• CuFe1−xGaxO2 single crystals are grown by using floating-zone method.
• The growth conditions are optimized.
• Structural and physical properties are characterized.

We report a systematic study on the crystal growth of CuFe1−xGaxO2 (x=0, 0.035, 0.08, and 0.12) by using an optical floating-zone method. High-quality single crystals are successfully obtained and the growth conditions are carefully optimized. It is found that there is a wide region to set the heat power for crystallizing, but the best crystallization requires carefully adjusting the heat power. X-ray diffraction data demonstrate the good crystallinity of these crystals. The basic physical properties of these crystals are characterized by the magnetic susceptibility and thermal conductivity measurements.