The Preparation and Crystal Structure of Some Ternary Silicides Containing Uranium and Transition Metals

The crystal structure of some new ternary silicides of the general composition U 4M 5Si3 (M = Cr, Mn, Fe) h as been determined by means of the x-ray powder diffraction method. The structure which belongs to the C14 (MgZn2) type is characterized by a statistical distributio\u27n of both kinds of smaller atoms. The chemical composition of the monophase specimens is probably temperature dependent. At lower temperatures it may aproach the formula U2M 3Si. In some of these systems ternary compounds UM2Si2 were also identified. They were found to be isostructural with the previously reported ThM2Si2 compounds. A novel method for the preparation of uranium alloys with the use of the electron beam melting is described