Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2011
The growth and structure of the Co1−xNixO series of single crystals with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 were investigated with the goal of achieving a single-phase crystal over several centimeters of bulk growth. The single crystals were grown via the floating zone method controlling the partial pressure of oxygen to prevent secondary phase precipitation. The resulting crystals were single phase for all compositions. CoO was a single-domain crystal but contained microvoids. The lattice parameters followed a rule-of-mixtures trend, but the coefficient of thermal expansion exhibited a maximum in the middle of the solid solution, which was attributed to enhanced vacancy formation.