Structural perfection of Fe1-xGaxBO3 single crystals designed for nuclear resonant synchrotron experiments

Abstract A series of Fe1-xGaxBO3 single crystals was grown by the flux technique. The atomic structure of crystals has been investigated by high-resolution electron microscopy. Crystal structure perfection of the crystals with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 was studied by X-ray diffraction and X-ray topography, and structural defects were visualized. Comparison of the experimental and calculated data for crystals of the extreme members of the series FeBO3 and GaBO3 with the crystals of solid solutions Fe1-xGaxBO3 revealed a slight decrease in the structural perfection of “mixed” crystals where partial isomorphic substitution of iron for gallium occurs. Along with this, each of the studied samples contains regions free of defects and stresses. The results of this work have demonstrated the possibility of using Fe1-xGaxBO3 crystals as monochromators in synchrotron experiments based on nuclear resonances.