Crystal structure and properties of tetragonal EuAg4In8 grown by metal flux technique

Abstract

The compound EuAg4In8 has been obtained as single crystals in high yield from reactions run in liquid indium. X-ray diffraction on single crystals suggests that EuAg4In8 crystallizes in the CeMn4Al8 structure type, tetragonal space group I4/mmm with lattice constants a= b =9.7937(2) angstrom and c=5.7492(2) angstrom. Crystal structure of EuAg4In8 is composed of pseudo Frank-Kasper cages occupied by one europium atom in each ring, which are shared through the corner along the ab plane resulting in a three dimensional network. The magnetic susceptibility of EuAg4In8 was measured in the temperature range 2-300 K, which obeyed Curie-Weiss law above 50 K. Magnetic moment value calculated from the fitting indicates the presence of divalent europium, which was confirmed by X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy. Electrical resistivity measurements suggest that EuAg4In8 is metallic in nature with a probable Fermi liquid behavior at low temperature. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.