Valence instabilities, phase transitions, and abrupt lattice expansion at 5 K in the YbGaGe system.
The powder synchrotron X-ray diffraction technique was used to study the thermal expansion behavior of the mixed valence layered compound, YbGa1.05Ge0.95 in the temperature range 3-1123 K. A surprising abrupt isosymmetric phase transition, accompanied by a dramatic volume increase (negative thermal expansion), was found at 5 K induced by a sudden Yb valence transition from +(2 + epsilon) toward +2. At high temperatures, the material undergoes a transformation to a highly disordered structure until it eventually collapses at 1123 K to a structure with isovalent Yb ions and flat Ga/Ge planes (AlB2 type).
Margadonna
Serena
S
Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK. sm413@cam.ac.uk
Prassides
Kosmas
K
Fitch
Andrew N
AN
Salvador
James R
JR
Kanatzidis
Mercouri G
MG