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The growth of single crystals of MoS2 and WS2 by materials transport through a liquid salt flux made from a low melting mixture of NaCl and CsCl is described. The crystals are characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, which reveals that they are 2H-MoS2 with a small percentage (about 3%) of 3R intergrowths. The 2H-WS2 crystals display less than 1% of 3R intergrowths. Photoluminescence spectra of exfoliated monolayers suggest that MoS2 grown by this method has superior crystallinity in comparison to commercially-available MoS2 crystals., Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures. SI: 4 tables

The synthesis, structural description, temperature dependent magnetic susceptibilities and field dependent magnetizations of a series of rare earth garnets of the form Li3RE3Te2O12 (RE = Y, La, Pr, Nd, Sm-Lu) are reported. The structure of Li3Dy3Te2O12 is refined from powder X-ray diffraction data. The field dependent magnetizations saturate for some of the members by 9 Tesla at 2 K. Of particular interest for further study in this family is the behavior of the Pr, Tb, Dy and Yb garnets., Comment: 23 pages, 4 tables, 17 figures

The single crystal growth, structure, and basic magnetic properties of ErMgGaO4 are reported. The structure consists of triangular layers of magnetic ErO6 octahedra separated by a double layer of randomly occupied non-magnetic (Ga,Mg)O5 bipyramids. The Er atoms are positionally disordered. Magnetic measurements parallel and perpendicular to the c axis of a single crystal reveal dominantly antiferromagnetic interactions, with a small degree of magnetic anisotropy. A weighted average of the directional data suggests an antiferromagnetic Curie Weiss temperature of approximately -30 K. Below 10 K the temperature dependences of the inverse susceptibilities in the in-plane and perpendicular-to plane directions are parallel, indicative of an isotropic magnetic moment at low temperatures. No sign of magnetic ordering is observed above 1.8 K, suggesting that ErMgGaO4 is a geometrically frustrated magnet., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, supplementary info

The crystalline garnet Mn3Fe2Si3O12 and an amorphous phase of the same nominal composition are synthesized at high pressure. The magnetic properties of the two forms are reported. Both phases order antiferromagnetically. The crystalline phase exhibits a Curie-Weiss theta of -47.2 K, with a sharp ordering transition at 12 K. The glassy phase exhibits a larger antiferromagnetic Curie-Weiss theta, of -83.0 K, with a broad ordering transition observed at 2.5 K. Both phases can be classified as magnetically frustrated, although the amorphous phase shows a much higher degree of frustration. The amorphous phase exhibits spin-glass behavior and is determined to have an actual composition of Mn3Fe2Si3O13., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables

The crystal growth, structure, and basic magnetic properties of TmMgGaO4 are reported. The Tm ions are located in a planar triangular lattice consisting of distorted TmO6 octahedra, while the Mg and Ga atoms randomly occupy intermediary bilayers of M-O triangular bipyramids. The Tm ions are positionally disordered. The material displays an antiferromagnetic Curie Weiss theta of ~ -20 -25 K, with no clear ordering visible in the magnetic susceptibility down to 1.8 K; the structure and magnetic properties suggest that ordering of the magnetic moments is frustrated by both structural disorder and the triangular magnetic motif. Single crystal magnetization measurements indicate that the magnetic properties are highly anisotropic, with large moments measured perpendicular to the triangular planes. At 2 K, a broad step-like feature is seen in the field-dependent magnetization perpendicular to the plane on applied field near 2 Tesla., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, supplementary info