Structural and magnetic properties of CeAlxSi2−x and CeAlxGe2−x alloys

Ternary rare-earth alumo-silicides—single-crystal growth from Al flux, structural and physical properties

“…However, the stability of both LaAlGe and some RAl x Si 2Àx compounds with R ¼ early rare-earth, extends well into the ternary phase space, as evidenced from the present and earlier experimental work [6,7,25]. This, together with the (2) a U eq is defined as one-third of the trace of the orthogonalized U ij tensor.…”

“…Several comprehensive studies have dealt with the phase equilibria in certain isothermal sections of the RAl-Si phase diagrams [1,2,[6][7][8][9]. Tremendous efforts have been made to identify and structurally characterize all structure types in which the binary R-Si, R-Al, and the corresponding R-Al-Si phases crystallize.…”

“…1). The stoichiometric breadth of these RAl x Si 2Àx ternaries is strongly dependent on the nature of R, with x varying between $0.4 and $1.4 in the case of La, Ce or Pr [6,7,9,16]. For SmAl x Si 2Àx and GdAl x Si 2Àx (i.e., those with considerably smaller ionic radii), the phase width appears to be much narrower with x in the range of $0.9 to $1.1.…”

“…There are a few reports on the properties of CeAl x Si 2Àx with the a-ThSi 2 -type and they do not agree [6,7,9]. Aside from the fact that CeAl x Si 2Àx exists as an almost infinite number of solid solution phases, there are large variations between the properties of Ce-Al-Si samples with apparently identical compositions [6,7,9].…”

“…Recently, several publications on the phase equlibria and properties in the systems R-Al-Si (R ¼ rare-earth metal) appeared [6][7][8][9]. Possible homogeneity ranges and associated structure-property relationships in the systems Ce-Al-Si and Ce-Al-Ge have been discussed [6].…”