Stabilization of CeGe$_3$ with Ti and O featuring tetravalent Ce ions: (Ce$_{0.85}$Ti$_{0.15}$)Ge$_3$O$_{0.5}$

TL;DR

This paper reports the synthesis and structural characterization of a new stabilized sub-oxide compound, (Ce$_{0.85}$Ti$_{0.15}$)Ge$_3$O$_{0.5}$, with unique anti-perovskite related structure and tetravalent cerium ions, revealing its metallic nature and stability factors.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel Ce-based sub-oxide with a specific cubic structure stabilized by chemical pressure and interstitials, expanding understanding of rare earth transition metal oxides.

Findings

The compound crystallizes in a cubic Fm-3m structure.

Ce ions are confirmed to be tetravalent.

The material exhibits metallic resistivity.

Abstract

Sub-oxides with the anti-perovskite structure constitute a large part of the interstitial stabilized compounds with novel chemical and physical properties, especially in the systems containing rare earth elements and/or early transition metal elements. A new sub-oxide compound, (Ce$_{0.85}$Ti$_{0.15}$)Ge$_3$O$_{0.5}$, is synthesized by flux growth. The compound crystallizes in a cubic structure which can be considered as an ordered vacancy variant of anti-perovskite-structure or an ordered interstitial variant of the Cu$_3$Au type, with a space group of Fm-3m (225). The structure is refined from X-ray single crystal methods. The compound may be considered as a compound stabilized by chemical pressure generated by the substitution and the interstitials atoms. The stability of the compounds in RTr$_3$ systems (R = rare earth elements except Pm and Sc, Tr = tetrel elements such as Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) seem to be highly correlated to the ratio of the rare earth elements' radii to the main group elements' atomic radii. The magnetic property of the compound confirms the 4$^+$ valence of the Ce atoms. The resistivity measurement of the compound shows that it is metallic.