The structure of the ternary aluminide ThFe2Al10

A new ternary aluminide containing actinide, ThFe2Al10, was observed in the Al-8 at.%Th-16 at.%Fe alloy. Microstructural study has shown that grains of the ThFe2Al10 compound contain numerous twins that are characterized by (021) twin plane and [01¯2] twinning direction. The ThFe2Al10 phase adopts an YbFe2Al10-type orthorhombic structure with space group symmetry Cmcm and the unit cell dimensions a=8.9806 Å, b=10.2520 Å, c=9.0882 Å.