SYNTHESIS AND CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE OF THE QUATERNARY COMPOUND NDNI8SIB3

The quaternary compound NdNi8SiB3 has been synthesised by are melting. The structure and magnetic behavior were investigated by X-ray diffra ction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fe-57 Mossbaue r spectroscopy. The XRD study indicates that the dominant phase for th e system can be indexed based on a tetragonal structure with the latti ce parameters a = 11.137(5) Angstrom, and c = 7.930(5) Angstrom, respe ctively. Selected area diffraction (SAD) information from TEM analysis further confirms the above proposal. The Mossbauer spectrum indicates that the system exhibits paramagnetism at room temperature, and the F e-57 atoms preferentially occupy the local cubic symmetric positions.