Flux growth and thermal properties of LiBaB9O15 single crystal

A large LiBaB9O15 single crystal has been grown by the top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) method using a Li2Mo3O10 flux system. The crystal obtained exhibits (1 1 0), (1 1 3) and (1 0 2) faces. For the first time, thermal properties of the as-grown crystal, including thermal expansion, specific heat and thermal conductivity, have been investigated as a function of temperature. The specific heat of the LiBaB9O15 crystal was measured to be 0.663–1.110 J g−1 K−1 over the temperature range of 20–400 °C. The crystal exhibits thermal expansion along the a- and b-axis, coupled with thermal contraction along the c-axis, over the measured temperature range of 25–500 °C. The average thermal expansion coefficients along the a- and c-axis of the LiBaB9O15 crystal from 25 to 500 °C are calculated to be αa = 6.56 × 10−6 K−1 and αc = −4.82 × 10−6 K−1, respectively.