STRUCTURE AND LOW-TEMPERATURE PROPERTIES OF SRB6

A detailed study of the room temperature structure of high duality sin gle crystalline SrB6 has been made. Minute changes in interatomic dist ances may drastically affect the electronic spectrum of this compound. Electronic transport properties both at zero and non-zero frequencies above He-4 temperatures indicate that SrB6 is close to be a semicondu ctor. However, at very low temperatures this compound enters a metalli c state with a low concentration of itinerant charge carriers. Possibl e correlation effects are indicated by anomalous temperature dependenc es of the electrical resistivity and the specific heat below 1 K.