Synthesis, crystal structure and physical properties of Yb2Pd3Ge5

A systematic study on the existence of R2Pd3Ge5 intermetallics with heavy rare earth metals (R = Gd–Lu) was conducted; only the Yb2Pd3Ge5 was revealed to exist. Its crystal structure was established by X-ray powder diffraction and refined by means of Rietveld method. This compound crystallizes in the orthorhombic U2Co3Si5 structure type (Ibam, oI40, Z = 4, a = 10.2628(1), b = 12.0580(1), and c = 5.98251(6) Å), which represents an ordered derivative of the tI10-ThCr2Si2 prototype, ubiquitous among intermetallics. Magnetization and susceptibility measurements indicate that Yb2Pd3Ge5 is a paramagnet with μeff close to 0.8 μB/Yb-atom, suggesting a nearly divalent Yb state. Electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient of the studied compound as a function of temperature confirm its metallic-like behavior.