Single
crystals of the ternary Pr3Co2+x
Ge7 and Ln3Co2+x
Ge7–y
Sn
y
(Ln = Pr, Nd, Sm) adopting a disordered
version of the La3Co2Sn7 structure
type have been prepared via flux-growth methods and characterized
by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The structure consists of two
lanthanide crystallographic sites with one occupying a cuboctahedral
coordination environment and a second in a trigonal prismatic environment.
The structure can also be described as an intergrowth of AuCu3 and CeNiSi2 structure types, and the stability
of the germanide analogues requires Sn incorporation and Co site preferences.
Magnetic properties of the Pr3Co2+x
Ge7–y
Sn
y
series are highlighted with the Sn-substituted
Pr3Co2.514(5)Ge6.66(7)Sn0.360(2) orders magnetically near 5.8 K, while
the germanide Pr3Co2.3376(5)Ge7.056(7) exhibits magnetic transitions at 5.3 and 9.3 K, arising
from the magnetic sublattices with field-dependent magnetization revealing
three metamagnetic transitions at 0.46, 0.80, and 2.1 T.