TY - JOUR
T1 - Intermetallic compounds with near Zintl phase behavior
T2 - RE 2Zn3Ge6 (RE = La, Ce, Pr, Nd) grown from liquid indium
AU - Salvador, James R.
AU - Bilc, Daniel
AU - Gour, Jeffrey R.
AU - Mahanti, Subhendra D.
AU - Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.
PY - 2005/11/28
Y1 - 2005/11/28
N2 - A series of compounds has been discovered while investigating reactions of rare earth, transition metals, and Ge in excess indium. These compounds, RE 2Zn3Ge6 (RE = La, Ce, Pr, Nd), are isostructural, crystallizing in the orthorhombic space group Cmcm with lattice parameters a = 5.9691(9) Å, b = 24.987(4) Å, and c = 5.9575(9) Å for La2Zn3Ge6, a = 5.9503(5) Å, b = 24.761(2) Å, and c = 5.9477(5) Å for the Ce analogue, a =5.938(2) Å, b = 24.708(8) Å, and c = 5.936(2) Å for Pr 2Zn3Ge6, and a = 5.9094(7) Å, b = 24.619(3) Å, and c = 5.9063(5) Å for the Nd analogue. The structure is composed of PbO-like ZnGe layers and ZnGe4 cage layers and is related to the Ce4Zn8Ge11-x structure type. The bonding in the system can be rationalized using the Zintl concept resulting in a material that is expected to be a valence precise semiconductor, although its behavior is more consistent with it being a semimetal, making it an intermediate case. The results of band structure calculations and magnetic measurements of these compounds are discussed.
AB - A series of compounds has been discovered while investigating reactions of rare earth, transition metals, and Ge in excess indium. These compounds, RE 2Zn3Ge6 (RE = La, Ce, Pr, Nd), are isostructural, crystallizing in the orthorhombic space group Cmcm with lattice parameters a = 5.9691(9) Å, b = 24.987(4) Å, and c = 5.9575(9) Å for La2Zn3Ge6, a = 5.9503(5) Å, b = 24.761(2) Å, and c = 5.9477(5) Å for the Ce analogue, a =5.938(2) Å, b = 24.708(8) Å, and c = 5.936(2) Å for Pr 2Zn3Ge6, and a = 5.9094(7) Å, b = 24.619(3) Å, and c = 5.9063(5) Å for the Nd analogue. The structure is composed of PbO-like ZnGe layers and ZnGe4 cage layers and is related to the Ce4Zn8Ge11-x structure type. The bonding in the system can be rationalized using the Zintl concept resulting in a material that is expected to be a valence precise semiconductor, although its behavior is more consistent with it being a semimetal, making it an intermediate case. The results of band structure calculations and magnetic measurements of these compounds are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1021/ic050941i
DO - 10.1021/ic050941i
M3 - Article
C2 - 16296820
AN - SCOPUS:28844475561
VL - 44
SP - 8670
EP - 8679
JO - Inorganic Chemistry
JF - Inorganic Chemistry
SN - 0020-1669
IS - 24
ER -