Crystal structure in PrBa2Cu4O8 single crystals

We have successfully grown single crystals of PrBa2Cu4O8 (Pr124) by a flux method under high-pressure oxygen gas of 11 arm in MgO crucibles. The structure data of a Pr124 single crystal were taken by using a four-circle diffractometer and the structure was refined by full matrix least-square structure refinements. All z-positional parameters are essentially the same for the single crystal and the polycrystalline Pr124 (Physica C, 302 (1998) 10). The temperature-dependence of resistivity of Pr124 single crystals did not exhibit superconductivity. at least down to 2 K. Resistivity along the b-axis showed a highly conductive behavior, of which the origin is attributed to the double-chain site because of the large anisotropy between the resistivities along the a- and b-axes. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.