Equiatomic compounds REIrMg (RE = Y, La-Nd, Sm, Gd-Tm) and RERhMg (RE = Y, Sm, Gd-Tm)

Abstract

The equiatomic intermetallic compounds REIrMg (RE = Y, La-Nd, Sm, Gd-Tm) and RERhMg (RE = Y, Sm, Gd-Tm) were synthesized from the elements in sealed niobium ampoules in a high-frequency furnace and characterized based on X-ray powder data. LaIrMg and CeIrMg crystallize with the orthorhombic LaNiAl type structure (Pnma), while all other compounds adopt the TiNiSi type. The structures of YRhMg, GdRh1.190(4)Mg0.810(4), DyRh1.126(5)Mg0.874(5), LaIrMg, NdIr1.033(2)Mg0.967(2) and ErIr1.059(3)Mg0.941(3) were refined from single-crystal X-ray diffractometer data. The striking structural motifs of these phases are tricapped trigonal prisms around the transition metal atoms formed by RE and Mg. The two structure types differ in the connectivity pattern of the trigonal prisms. The rhodium (iridium) atoms build up three-dimensional [RhMg] and [IrMg] networks in which cavities are filled by the rare earth atoms. Temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements on X-ray pure samples of NdIrMg, SmRhMg, GdRhMg, TbRhMg and DyRhMg show Curie-Weiss paramagnetism of the trivalent rare earth ions and magnetic ordering at low temperatures: TC = 9.5K for NdIrMg and Néel temperatures of 10.0, 16.7, 10.6 and 11.3K for SmRhMg, GdRhMg, TbRhMg and DyRhMg. TbRhMg and DyRhMg exhibit field-induced spin reorientations (metamagnetism).