Abstract
A new ternary intermetallic compound, Nd2Cu0.8Ge3, was synthesized and its crystal structure was determined by Rietveld refinement of X-ray powder diffraction data. The Nd2Cu0.8Ge3 compound crystallizes in space group I41/amd (No. 141), with a tetragonal a-ThSi2 structure type, and a=0.41783(2)nm, c=1.43689(9)nm, Z=2 and Dcalc=7.466g/cm3. Using the high temperature powder X-ray diffraction (HTXRD) technique, the lattice thermal expansion behavior of the compound was investigated in the temperature range of 298–648K, and the result shows that its unit-cell parameters increased anisotropically when temperature increased. The magnetic susceptibility measured in the temperature range of 5–300K indicated antiferromagnetic order of Nd2Cu0.8Ge3 at low temperatures, and the magnetic susceptibility can be well described over the range of 50–300K using Curie–Weiss law. The calculated effective magnetic moment (μeff) is 3.53μB and dominated by the contribution of the Nd3+ ions.
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