Structure and physical
properties of YbZn2Sb2 and YbCd2Sb2
Chem.
Met. Alloys 1
(2008) 204-209
https://doi.org/10.30970/cma1.0062
Oksana Ya. ZELINSKA, Andriy V. TKACHUK, Andrew P. GROSVENOR, Arthur MAR
The ternary
ytterbium transition-metal antimonides YbM2Sb2 (M = Zn, Cd)
were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies to adopt the CaAl2Si2-type
structure (P m1; a = 4.4424(6) Å,
c = 7.4184(9) Å
for YbZn2Sb2; a
= 4.6512(7) Å, c = 7.5661(11) Å for YbCd2Sb2).
Electrical resistivity measurements on single
crystals revealed weakly metallic behaviour, with a resistivity minimum near 80 K in the case of YbCd2Sb2. The Yb atoms are
predominantly divalent, as indicated by band structure calculations and X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy on YbZn2Sb2, but nonzero
magnetic moments derived from magnetic susceptibility measurements and
additional features in the experimental valence band spectrum provide evidence
for the presence of some trivalent Yb species.
Structure
of YbM2Sb2 (M
= Zn, Cd). The large lightly shaded circles are Yb atoms, the small solid circles are M atoms, and the medium open circles are Sb
atoms.
Keywords
Antimonide / Ytterbium / Electronic structure
/ Magnetic properties