Crystal structure, thermal expansion and magnetic properties of Pr 2Cu 0.8Ge 3 compound

Abstract

A new ternary compound, Pr 2Cu 0.8Ge 3, was synthesized and its physical property investigated. The Rietveld method was used to refine the powder X-ray diffraction data and the results show that Pr 2Cu 0.8Ge 3 crystallized in an a-ThSi 2-type tetragonal structure with the space group I4 1/ amd (No. 141), a = 0.42001(1) nm, c = 1.44147(2) nm, Z = 2 and D calc = 7.322 g cm −3. Lattice thermal expansion study was carried out by high-temperature powder X-ray diffraction technique from room temperature (293 K) to 803 K, and the calculated lattice and volume thermal expansion coefficients obtained were 1.57 × 10 −5 K −1, 1.03 × 10 −5 K −1 and 4.18 × 10 −5 K −1 for α ¯ a , α ¯ c and α ¯ V , respectively. The magnetic susceptibility of Pr 2Cu 0.8Ge 3 was found to follow the Curie–Weiss law in the 20–300 K temperature range. The effective magnetic moment ( μ eff) and paramagnetic Curie temperature ( θ p) were estimated to be 3.56(3) μ B and 17.5(2) K, respectively.