Zeitschrift für Kristallographie / Crystalline materials 235(8-9), 1-7 (2020). doi:10.1515/zkri-2020-0058
The new samarium germanide SmGe$_3$ is obtained by high-pressure high-temperature synthesis of pre-reacted mixtures of samarium and germanium at a pressure of 9.5 GPa and temperatures between 1073 and 1273 K. SmGe$_3$ decomposes at 470(5) K into SmGe$_2$, $α$-Sm$_3$Ge$_5$ and a hitherto unknown phase. SmGe$_3$ exhibits a superstructure of the cubic Cu$_3$Au-type. Transmission electron microscopy measurements of crystalline particles and prepared lamellae indicate a high density of defects on the nano-scale. Selected area electron diffraction and elaborate X-ray powder diffraction measurements consistently indicate a 2a$_0$×2a$_0$×2a$_0$ superstructure adopting space group $Fm^-3m$ with $a$ = 8.6719(2) Å.
Published by De Gruyter, Berlin