Ferromagnetic Ordering in CeZnSn

Wilfried Hermes (1) , Samir F. Matar (2) , Thomas Harmening (1) , Ute Ch. Rodewald (1) , Matthias Eul (1) , Rainer Pöttgen (1)

1 Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie
2 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux

The stannide CeZnSn was obtained in X-ray-pure form by induction-melting of the elements in a sealed tantalum ampoule. CeZnSn crystallizes with the YPtAs-type structure, space groupP63/mmc,a= 456.7(3),c= 1673.8(5) pm,wR2 = 0.0862, 259F2values, and 12 variables. The zinc and tin atoms build up puckered Zn3Sn3hexagons (Zn–Sn 271 pm) with weak interlayer Zn–Zn interactions(323 pm). Susceptibility measurements of CeZnSn reveal modified Curie-Weiss behavior above 50 Kwith an experimental magnetic moment of 2.77(1)μB/ Ce atom. The cerium magnetic moments order ferromagnetically atTC=5.2(1)K.119Sn Mössbauer spectra show a single tin site at an isomer shift ofδ= 1.967(4) mm/s subjected to a small quadrupole splitting of ∆EQ= 0.41(2) mm/s at 40 K. At 4.2 K a magnetic hyperfine field of 0.872(5) T is transferred to the tin site. From DFT scalar relativistic calculations of the electronic and magnetic structures, chemical bonding analysis reveals on one hand a weaker bonding of Zn than of Sn with the cerium substructures with a twice strongerCe1–Sn bond compared to Ce2–Sn. On the other hand, a ferromagnetic ground state is identified from total energy differences in agreement with experiment

Mots clés: Intermetallics; Stannide; Crystal Chemistry; Chemical Bonding (COOP); DFT; Spin Polarized Calculations; DOS; ELF

Domaines: Matériaux; Cristallographie; Chimie inorganique

Wilfried Hermes, Samir F. Matar, Thomas Harmening, Ute Ch. Rodewald, Matthias Eul, et al.. Ferromagnetic Ordering in CeZnSn. Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung B, 2009, 64 (2), pp.175-183. ⟨10.1515/znb-2009-0206⟩. ⟨hal-00362491⟩