Crystal structure, thermal expansion and electrical properties of the new Al0.32ErGe2 compound

A new ternary compound Al0.32ErGe2 has been synthesized and studied from 298 K to 773 K using X-ray powder diffraction technique. Its structure has been determined at room temperature by Rietveld refinement of X-ray powder diffraction data. The ternary compound Al0.32ErGe2 crystallizes in the orthorhombic with the defect CeNiSi2 structure type (space group Cmcm, a = 0.40701(2) nm, b = 1.60401(9) nm, c = 0.39240(2) nm, Z = 4 and Dcalc = 8.326 g/cm3). The average thermal expansion coefficients α¯a, α¯b and α¯c of Al0.32ErGe2 are 1.72 × 10−5 K−1, 1.11 × 10−5 K−1 and 1.52 × 10−5 K−1, respectively. The bulk thermal expansion coefficient α¯V is 4.35 × 10−5 K−1. Electrical resistivity of Al0.32ErGe2 was measured between 5 K and 300 K.