Single crystal flux growth of the Ising spin-chain system γ-CoV2O6

CoV2O6 has two structural forms: a low-temperature phase (γ-CoV2O6) and a high-temperature one (α-CoV2O6), separated by a structural transition which occurs at 953 K. In this paper, we first report on large sized single crystals of γ-CoV2O6 grown successfully by the flux method at a slow cooling rate. The quality of grown crystals is confirmed using XRD and EPMA techniques. Magnetic properties are investigated by means of susceptibility, magnetization, and heat capacity measurements. Our results confirm that γ-CoV2O6 possesses a long-range antiferromagnetic ordering at ~6 K, in which 1/3 magnetization plateau occurs at the critical field of ~2500 Oe applied along the magnetic c-axis.