germanium

Crystal Structure of the Ternary Compound ErRe0.25Ge2

An alloy of nominal composition Er30.8Re7.7Ge61.5 was synthesized by arc melting and investigated by X-ray powder diffraction. A new ternary germanide of approximate composition ErRe0.25Ge2 was found, which adopts the structure type CeNiSi2 (Pearson symbol oS16, space group Cmcm, a = 4.0997(4), b = 15.7348(18), c = 3.9921(5) Å, RB = 0.0355, refined composition ErRe0.23(2)Ge2, for the as-cast alloy; a = 4.1117(3), b = 15.6846(15), c = 4.0184(3) Å, RB = 0.0420, refined composition ErRe0.28(2)Ge2, after annealing at 1073 K).