Crystal Growth of the Quasi-2D Quarternary Compound AgCrP2S6 by Chemical Vapor Transport

Abstract

We report optimized crystal growth conditions for the quarternary compound AgCrP2S6 by chemical vapor transport. Compositional and structural characterization of the obtained crystals were carried out by means of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction. AgCrP2S6 is structurally closely related to the M2P2S6 family, which contains several compounds that are under investigation as 2D magnets. As-grown crystals exhibit a plate-like, layered morphology as well as a hexagonal habitus. AgCrP2S6 crystallizes in monoclinic symmetry in the space group P2/a (No. 13). The successful growth of large high-quality single crystals paves the way for further investigations of low dimensional magnetism and its anisotropies in the future and may further allow for the manufacturing of few-layer (or even monolayer) samples by exfoliation.