Structural and electrical characterization of RCu₅Sn compounds (R = Y, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, and Tm)

Chem. Met. Alloys 12 (2019) 1-8

https://doi.org/10.30970/cma12.0374

I. ROMANIV, L. ROMAKA, B. KUZHEL, V.V. ROMAKA, M. RUDCHENKO, Yu. STADNYK, M. KONYK, M. RUDKO

A series of RCu₅Sn intermetallic compounds (R = Y, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, and Tm) was synthesized from the elements by arc-melting, annealed at 870 K and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray analyses. Rietveld refinements of the crystal structures showed that the compounds crystallize in the structure type CeCu₅Au (ordered variant of the CeCu₆ type, space group Pnma). Measurements of the electrical resistivity indicated metallic type of conductivity for all the studied compounds in the temperature range 11-300 K. Magnetic ordering at low temperature was, when in the temperature range of the measurements, confirmed by the electrical resistivity measurements. Electronic structure calculations performed for YCu₅Sn are in good agreement with the electrical transport studies.

Isosurface of the electron localization function at 0.32 for YCu₅Sn.

Keywords

Intermetallics / Crystal structure / X-ray diffraction / Electrical properties / DFT modeling