Chemical pressure due to impurities in trigonal compounds Eu$T_2Pn_2$ ($T =$ Cd, Zn; $Pn =$ P, As, Sb)

TL;DR

This review examines how impurities and growth conditions affect the structural and magnetic properties of Eu$T_2Pn_2$ trigonal compounds, highlighting variations linked to different synthesis methods and potential contamination.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of how growth conditions influence the physical properties and impurity levels in Eu$T_2Pn_2$ compounds, especially EuCd$_2$As$_2$.

Findings

Lattice parameters vary with growth method and source.

Sn flux-grown samples are mostly antiferromagnetic.

Salt flux-grown samples show wider property variations and ferromagnetism.

Abstract

This work provides a review of crystal growth, crystal structure, compositional details, magnetism, thermodynamic, and transport behavior in the family of the trigonal intermetallic systems Eu$T_2Pn_2$ ($T=$ Cd, Zn; $Pn=$ P, As, Sb; space group $P\overline{3}m1$, No.164). The physical properties observed in these materials, and how these change depending on the growth conditions are discussed. In particular, the case of EuCd$_2$As$_2$ is considered where data from many sources are available. The possible small contamination of the material during crystal growth experiments is hard to verify as it is often below the detection limit of the standard characterization techniques. It turns out that samples from different sources exhibit variations in the lattice parameters exceeding the experimental errors. The review of these parameters reveals that they are very similar for antiferromagnetic samples grown from Sn flux in Al$_2$O$_3$ crucibles, while there is a wider spread for samples grown from salt flux grown in SiO$_2$ ampules, which are mostly ferromagnetic. The influence of the different experimental setups with regard to possible impurities in the samples is discussed.