Growth and Faraday rotation characteristics of Tb2Sn2O7 crystal

Tb2Sn2O7 (TSO) single crystals have been grown by the top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) method using a Na2B4O7-NaF mixture as the flux. In this paper, the morphology of as-grown TSO crystals is briefly described and the valences of terbium and tin in crystal were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The transmission spectrum was measured in the wavelength range of 400-1600 nm at room temperature and the Faraday rotation of a TSO crystal was investigated at 532, 633 and 1064 nm wavelengths by the extinction method. Results show that TSO crystals exhibit typical paramagnetism when the temperature is above 2 K and have a larger Verdet constant than that reported for TGG.