Electrical resistivity and magnetism in some ternary intermetallics

We report on structure and transport properties of novel materials Er3Co6Sn 5, Y3Co6Sn5, HfCu6Sb3, Ti5Cu0.45Sb2.55, Tm2Ni3Sn2 and Er6Ni2Sn studied in p olycrystalline form in connection to their magnetic behavior. For the latte r compound also the specific-heat data are presented. The first two compoun ds crystallize in the Dy3Co6Sn5-type structure. HfCu6Sb3 forms in a new str ucture type characterized by space group P6(3)mc and lattice parameters a=4 .259 Angstrom and c=11.5112 Angstrom. The W5Si3 structure type has been det ermined for Ti5Cu0.45Sb2.55. Er6Ni2Sn possesses the orthorhombic Ho6Ni2Ga-t ype structure with lattice constants a=9.245 Angstrom, b=9.417 Angstrom and c=9.819 Angstrom. Specific features of the temperature dependence of resis tivity will be discussed in the context of results of magnetic measurements , e.g. the p vs. T curve for Er6Ni2Sn exhibits two pronounced cusp-like ano malies at T-1 approximate to 18 K and T-N approximate to 35 K. These anomal ies are connected with magnetic phase transitions confirmed by magnetizatio n data. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.