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Intermediate Valence Behavior of Yb 2 Cu 9 Al 8
Author(s) -
Juckel Martin,
Koželj Primož,
Prots Yurii,
Ormeci Alim,
Burkhardt Ulrich,
LeitheJasper Andreas,
Svanidze Eteri
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.354
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1521-3749
pISSN - 0044-2313
DOI - 10.1002/zaac.202000118
Subject(s) - valence (chemistry) , excitation , fermi level , materials science , atomic physics , density of states , condensed matter physics , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , physics , nuclear physics , organic chemistry , chromatography , quantum mechanics , electron
Intermediate valence behavior is frequently observed in materials containing Ce, Yb, Eu, Sm, or Tm. In the current work, we report synthesis and characterization of Yb 2 Cu 9 Al 8 (Th 2 Zn 17 structure type). Its intermediate valence behavior can be described by an excitation energy E ex / k B = 319 K and a spin fluctuation temperature T sf = 60 K. The valence state of Yb is estimated to be close to 2.04 for the low‐temperature region. The valence gradually evolves to the value of 2.80 at T = 400 K. The specific heat coefficient of γ exp = 59 mJ · mol Yb –1 · K –2 indicates a moderate effective mass enhancement, together with finite density of states at the Fermi level. The latter is also confirmed by the band structure calculations.