Eu10Mn6Sb13:  A New Ternary Rare-Earth Transition-Metal Zintl Phase

• Published in: Inorganic chemistry 2003-07, Vol.42 (15), p.4660-4667
• Main Authors: Holm, Aaron P, Park, Seon-Mi, Condron, Cathie L, Olmstead, Marilyn M, Kim, Hyungrak, Klavins, Peter, Grandjean, Fernande, Hermann, Raphaël P, Long, Gary J, Kanatzidis, Mercouri G, Kauzlarich, Susan M, Kim, Sung-Jin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0020-1669; 1520-510X
• DOI: 10.1021/ic034054w

A new transition-metal-containing Zintl compound, Eu10Mn6Sb13, was prepared by a high-temperature Sn-flux synthesis. The structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Eu10Mn6Sb13 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/m with a = 15.1791(6) Å, b = 19.1919(7) Å, c = 12.2679(4) Å, β = 108.078(1)°, Z = 4 (R1 = 0.0410, wR2 = 0.0920), and T = 90(2) K. The structure of Eu10Mn6Sb13 is composed of double layers of Mn-centered tetrahedra separated by Eu2+ cations. The double layers are composed of edge- and corner-sharing Mn-centered tetrahedra which form cavities occupied by Eu2+ cations and [Sb2]4- dumbbells. Linear [Sb3]5- trimers bridging two tetrahedra across the cavity are also present. Bulk susceptibility data indicate paramagnetic behavior with a ferromagnetic component present below 60 K. Temperature-dependent electrical resistivity measurements show semiconducting behavior above 60 K (E a = 0.115(2) eV), a large and unusually sharp maximum in the resistivity at ∼40 K, and metallic behavior below 40 K. 151Eu Mössbauer spectra confirm that the europium is divalent with an average isomer shift of −11.2(1) mm/s at 100 K; the spectra obtained below 40 K reveal magnetic ordering of six of the seven europium sublattices and, at 4.2 K, complete ordering of the seven europium sublattices.