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A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Crystalline Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 December 2023) | Viewed by 12128

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sergey L. Bud'ko

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Guest Editor

Ames Laboratory, US DOE and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Interests: intermetallics; magnetism; superconductivity; heavy fermions; 2D materials; high pressure effects; high magnetic field

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Intermetallics present a very wide range of compounds composed of metals, metalloids and, optionally, non-metallic elements. These materials host a variety of interesting phenomena with examples of superconductivity, strongly correlated electrons, quantum criticality, bulk magnetism, topology, exceptional thermoelectric properties or a combination of several of them. With the progress in synthetic methods and development of novel advanced characterization tools, the community has started to explore and appreciate the diversity and complexity of intermetallics and metal-like compounds as well as tunability of their properties through pressure/stress, the magnetic field, and chemical substitution. All these characteristics make the synthesis and studies of intermetallics a fertile research field for condensed matter physicists and solid-state chemists interested in basic science and applications.

We invite researchers to contribute to this Special Issue on “Advances in Intermetallic and Metal-Like Compounds”, which is intended to cover broad aspects of synthesis, properties, and application of intermetallic and metal-like compounds.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

Advances in synthesis of intermetallics;
Novel materials and physical properties, including topological aspects;
Electronic structure via quantum oscillations and ARPES;
Heavy fermions, quantum criticality, and quantum phase transitions;
Superconductivity and its competition with other quantum states;
Local moment and itinerant magnetism;
Path to applications.

Dr. Sergey L. Bud'ko
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

crystal growth of intermetallics
electrical and thermal transport
superconductivity
magnetism
strongly correlated systems

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 5799 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Anomalous Ferromagnetic Phase in the Gd_1−xEr_xB₄ Series: Crystal Growth, Thermal, and Magnetic Properties

by Sueli H. Masunaga, Vagner B. Barbeta, Fábio Abud, Milton S. Torikachvili and Renato F. Jardim

Crystals 2023, 13(7), 1137; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13071137 - 21 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1190

Abstract

Rare-earth tetraborides RB₄ are of great interest due to the occurrence of geometric magnetic frustration and corresponding unusual magnetic properties. While the Gd³⁺ spins in GdB₄ align along the ab plane, Er³⁺ spins in the isomorphic ErB₄ are confined to the c–axis. The magnetization in the latter exhibits a plateau at the midpoint of the saturation magnetization. Therefore, solid solutions of (Gd, Er)B₄ provide an excellent playground for exploring the intricate magnetic behavior in these compounds. Single crystals of Gd_1−xEr_xB₄ (x = 0, 0.2, and 0.4) were grown in aluminum flux. X-ray diffraction scans revealed single-phase materials, and a drop in the unit cell volume with increasing Er content, suggesting the partial substitution of Er at the Gd sites. Heat capacity measurements indicated a systematic decrease of the Néel temperature (T_N) with increasing Er content. The effective magnetic moment determined from the magnetization measurement agreed with the calculated free ion values for Gd³⁺ and Er³⁺, providing further evidence for the successful substitution of Er for Gd. The partial substitution resulted in an anomalous ferromagnetic phase below T_N, exhibiting significant anisotropy, predominantly along the c-axis. This intriguing behavior merits further studies of the magnetism in the Gd_1−xEr_xB₄ borides. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Intermetallic and Metal-Like Compounds)

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9 pages, 1996 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Evaluation of the Crystal Structure and Magnetic Properties of Eu_1.84Ce_0.16CuO_4+α−δ with Ni Substitution

by Muhammad Fadhil Falhan, Rosaldi Pratama, Lucia Patia Rochman, Rahma Sundaya Effendi, Yati Maryati, Utami Widyaiswari, Dita Puspita Sari, Togar Saragi and Risdiana Risdiana

Crystals 2023, 13(7), 1066; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13071066 - 6 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1337

Abstract

The addition of Ni impurities can reveal the correlation between crystal structure changes and magnetic properties and superconductivity. In this study, electron-doped cuprates with an addition of the Eu_1.84Ce_0.16Cu_1−yNi_yO_4+α−δ (ECCNO) Ni impurity, with

y

[...] Read more.

y

= 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.05 in the over-doped regime, was prepared using the solid-state reaction method. The XRD results showed that ECCNO has a T’ crystal structure, and lattice parameter

c

increases when parameters

a

and

b

decrease, which causes the distance between the charge reservoir and the conducting layer to become greater, thus affecting magnetic properties. From the superconducting quantum interference device’s measurement, it was observed that the magnetic properties of all samples with Ni impurities show a paramagnetic phase, indicating that the effect of Ni impurities could suppress the superconducting phase. It was observed that the Curie constant and the effective magnetic moment tended to decrease for

y

≤ 0.02 and began to increase when

y

> 0.02. This behavior indicated that the effect of the Ni impurity weakened the dynamical Cu spin–spin correlation, which might be related to stripe correlations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Intermetallic and Metal-Like Compounds)

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13 pages, 8460 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Double-Layer Kagome Metals Pt₃Tl₂ and Pt₃In₂

by Michael A. McGuire, Eleanor M. Clements, Qiang Zhang and Satoshi Okamoto

Crystals 2023, 13(5), 833; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13050833 - 17 May 2023

Viewed by 2135

Abstract

The connectivity and inherent frustration of the kagome lattice can produce interesting electronic structures and behaviors in compounds containing this structural motif. Here we report the properties of Pt

_{3}

_{2}

(X = In and Tl) that adopt a double-layer kagome [...] Read more.

_{3}

_{2}

(X = In and Tl) that adopt a double-layer kagome net structure related to that of the topologically nontrivial high-temperature ferromagnet Fe₃Sn₂ and the density wave hosting compound V₃Sb₂. We examined the structural and physical properties of single crystal Pt₃Tl₂ and polycrystalline Pt₃In₂ using X-ray and neutron diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, and electrical transport measurements, along with density functional theory calculations of the electronic structure. Our calculations show that Fermi levels lie in pseudogaps in the densities of states with several bands contributing to transport, and this is consistent with our Hall effect, magnetic susceptibility, and heat capacity measurements. Although electronic dispersions, characteristic of simple kagome nets with nearest-neighbor hopping, are not clearly seen, likely due to the extended nature of the Pt

5 d

states, we do observe moderately large and non-saturating magnetoresistance values and quantum oscillations in the magnetoresistance and magnetization associated with the kagome nets of Pt. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Intermetallic and Metal-Like Compounds)

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8 pages, 546 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Anomalous Positron Lifetime in Single Crystal of Weyl Semimetal CoSi

by D. A. Salamatin, A. V. Bokov, M. G. Kozin, I. L. Romashkina, A. V. Salamatin, M. V. Mikhin, A. E. Petrova, V. A. Sidorov, A. V. Nikolaev, Z. Fisk and A. V. Tsvyashchenko

Crystals 2023, 13(3), 509; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13030509 - 16 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1737

Abstract

The positron annihilation lifetimes were measured using a

^{48}

V positron source in noncentrosymmetric cubic single crystals of CoSi, FeSi and MnSi. The following lifetimes were determined from the positron annihilation time spectra: 168(1) ps for CoSi, 114(1) ps for FeSi and 111(1) [...] Read more.

The positron annihilation lifetimes were measured using a

^{48}

^{22}

Na positron source. For CoSi, the lifetimes obtained from different positron sources are consistent. The differences in the positron annihilation lifetimes in MnSi and FeSi, on the one hand, and in the Weyl semimetal CoSi, on the other hand, are possibly caused by the formation of a positron + electron bound state (positronium). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Intermetallic and Metal-Like Compounds)

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Review

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19 pages, 1817 KiB

Open AccessReview

Uncommon Magnetism in Rare-Earth Intermetallic Compounds with Strong Electronic Correlations

by Pavel S. Savchenkov and Pavel A. Alekseev

Crystals 2023, 13(8), 1238; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13081238 - 10 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1399

Abstract

Rare-earth intermetallic compounds are characterised by the presence of a long-range magnetic order due to the interaction of local magnetic moments periodically located within the crystal lattice. This paper considers the possibility of forming an ordered state in cases where there is no opportunity to observe the local moment of the f-electronic shell in a traditional sense. These are, first of all, systems with a singlet ground state, as well as systems with fast spin fluctuations caused by a homogeneous intermediate-valence state of a rare-earth ion. Extensive experimental studies of these effects using neutron diffraction, neutron spectroscopy, and high-pressure studies of the magnetic phase diagram are presented and analysed, and the corresponding microscopic model representations are discussed. In particular, the possible origin of long-range magnetic order in mixed-valence compounds is analysed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Intermetallic and Metal-Like Compounds)

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27 pages, 3455 KiB

Open AccessReview

Next-Generation Quantum Materials for Thermoelectric Energy Conversion

by Shiva Kumar Singh, Julian Munevar, Letície Mendonça-Ferreira and Marcos A. Avila

Crystals 2023, 13(7), 1139; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13071139 - 21 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3671

Abstract

This review presents the recent advances in the search for thermoelectric (TE) materials, mostly among intermetallic compounds and in the enhancement of their TE performance. Herein, contemporary approaches towards improving the efficiency of heat–electricity conversion (e.g., energy harvesting and heat pumping) are discussed through the understanding of various emergent physical mechanisms. The strategies for decoupling the individual TE parameters, as well as the simultaneous enhancement of the TE power factor and the suppression of heat conduction, are described for nanoparticle-doped materials, high entropy alloys, and nanowires. The achievement of a superior TE performance due to emergent quantum phenomena is discussed for intermetallic chalcogenides and related systems (e.g., strong and weak topological insulators, Weyl and Dirac semimetals), and some of the most promising compounds within these classes are highlighted. It was concluded that high-entropy alloying provides a methodological breakthrough for employing band engineering methods along with various phonon scattering mechanisms towards significant TE efficiency improvement in conventional TE materials. Finally, topological semimetals and magnetic semimetals with several intriguing features, such as a violation of the Wiedemann–Franz law and outstanding perpendicular Nernst signals, are presented as strong candidates for becoming next-generation TE quantum materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Intermetallic and Metal-Like Compounds)

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