Crystal growth and magnetic properties of Ln4MGa12 (Ln ≤ Dy-Er; M ≤ Pd, Pt)

Single crystals of Ln4MGa12 (Ln ≤ Dy, Ho, Er; M ≤ Pd,Pt) were synthesized by a flux technique using excess Ga and characterized by single crystal x-ray diffraction. Ln4MGa 12 (Ln ≤ Dy, Ho, Er; M ≤ Pd,Pt) crystallize in the cubic space group (no.229) with lattice parameter a∼8.5, Z ≤ 2. Magnetic measurements show that Dy4PdGa12 and Er4PdGa12 are antiferromagnetic with transitions at TN ≤ 10 and 5.2K, respectively, while Ho4PdGa12 does not show any magnetic ordering down to 2K. Ln4PtGa12 (Ln ≤ Dy, Ho, Er) order antiferromagnetically at TN ≤ 9.8, 3.6 and 5.1K for Dy 4PtGa12, Ho4PtGa12 and Er 4PtGa12, respectively.The electrical resistivity data show metallic behaviour. Large positive magnetoresistance is shown for each compound, up to 900% at 3K and 9T for the Ho4PtGa12 analogue. © IOP Publishing Ltd