Crystal and magnetic properties of U(Mn1−xFex)2Si2

The Ternary System: Uranium – Zirconium – Silicon

“…Transition metal (TxSiy) silicides -and particularly those of the electropositive early transition elements -have gained considerable attention as high and ultrahigh temperature ceramics with high melting points well above 2273 K combined with a remarkable oxidation resistance and good thermal and electrical conductivity [1][2][3][4]. It is not surprising that the high chemical reactivity of uranium metal in combination with transition metals, T, and silicon yielded so far a rather large group of ternary U-T-Si compounds: whereas compounds with electropositive metals essentially form in the region of about 20 to 50 at.% Si [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20], ternary phase diagrams with more electronegative metals (such as iron-group elements; see for instance [21][22][23][24]) reveal a large population of phases with a U-content less than about 35 at.% U. Many of the ternary systems U-T-Si are characterized by the formation of thermodynamically rather stable high temperature compounds U2M3Si4, which may adopt three different but closely related structure types with variable stoichiometries (U2Nb3Si4 [14], U2-xTi3+xSi4 for 0.7<x<1.3 [16] with Sc2Re3Si4-type, U2-xNb3+xSi4, x = 0.25 with Ce2Sc3Si4-type [14] and U2Mo3Si4 with Y2Mo3Si4type [15].…”