High pressure study of the intermetallic compound UFe2Al10

The crystallographic and electronic structure of UFe2Al10 was studied as a function of pressure by combining X-ray diffraction results with the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (LAPW) calculations method. The volume-pressure reduction measured at 23.5 GPa is V/V0 = 0.87, with a B0 value of 132 ± 8 GPa. The uranium 5f electrons in this compound are located in a narrow and well-defined band above EFermi, having a very weak interaction with the iron 3d band located below EFermi. Consequently, the DOS at EFermi is close to zero, indicating a close to zero-magnetic moment of the uranium atom at low temperature up to a pressure of 23.5 GPa, as expected from the layered crystallographic structure of this compound. The above assumption is supported by preliminary neutron diffraction data, where no long-range magnetic order was detected down to 3 K.