Synthesis, structure, and magnetic behavior of (LaxCe1−x)1.33Pt4Ga10 (0⩽x⩽1)

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.02.095
• Publication Date: 2014-02-26T00:30:20Z
• Authors: Robin T. Macaluso; Michael Shatruk; Ping Chai; Hanyul Hong; Chad Wangeline; Kevin Ryan; Peter Holton; Julien Allaz; Gregory Morrison; Bradford Fulfer; Frank Fronczek; Julia Y. Chan
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

Abstract (La x Ce 1 − x ) 1.33 Pt 4 Ga 10 (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 1), synthesized with excess Ga flux, crystallize in the P 6 3 / mmc space group, Z = 1, with lattice parameters a = b ∼ 4.3 and c ∼ 16.5 A for the entire range of the solid solution. Single-crystal diffraction and electron microscopy methods show that La substitution within the solid solution does not lead to systematic decrease in unit cell dimensions. The crystal structure of (La x Ce 1 − x ) 1.33 Pt 4 Ga 10 (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 1) can be viewed as a combination of RE 2 Ga 3 ( A ) and double Pt 2 Ga 4 ( B ) layers stacked along the c axis in an ABAB sequence. Ce 1.33 Pt 4 Ga 10 exhibits a large negative Weiss constant, θ W = −87.2 K, but does not reveal any signature of magnetic ordering. An examination of zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetization curves and AC susceptibility at low temperatures excludes a possible formation of spin-glass state down to 1.8 K. These findings support an earlier suggestion that Ce 1.33 Pt 4 Ga 10 might exhibit non-Fermi liquid behavior.