condensed matter physics

The self-organized vacancy order in PrGe

arXiv:2607.12781 · doi:10.1103/1jfr-6fkb

summary

The authors discovered a new orthorhombic crystal structure of Pr9Ge16 with ordered germanium vacancies and characterized its anisotropic magnetic behavior, metallic transport, and a low‑temperature magnetic transition near 14 K.

Abstract

In this work, we report the discovery of a new crystal structure on the Ge-rich side of the Pr-Ge binary phase diagram. Using a high-temperature flux technique, we grew single crystals of , which adopt a previously unreported orthorhombic 2 structure type featuring ordered Ge vacancies. We present the anisotropic magnetic properties and identify the crystallographic axis perpendicular to the crystal plane as the magnetic easy axis. Temperature-dependent resistivity measurements reveal metallic behavior with a distinct anomaly at = 14.3 K. Hall resistivity data indicate that electron-like carriers dominate, with a carrier concentration on the order of . The magnetic order is readily suppressed by a magnetic field of approximately 0.4 T applied along the easy axis.

Topics & keywords

#crystal structure#vacancy ordering#magnetic anisotropy#metallic transport#rare-earth intermetallicsPr9Ge16orthorhombic Fdd2Ge vacanciesanisotropic magnetismHall effectflux growth