The Structure and Magnetic Properties of Pr 3MO7 with M = Nb, Ta, and Sb

The crystal structure of the fluorite-related praseodymium compounds with the composition Pr 3 MO 7, M = Nb, Ta, and Sb, have been determined using Rietveld refinement from X-ray and neutron powder diffraction data at 293 and 4 K. The structure described is orthorhombic with space group Cmcm (No. 63). It is a superstructure of the cubic fluorite structure with unit cell parameters a orth ≈ 2a c, b orth ≈ c orth ≈ a c 2 , as in La 3NbO 7. This structure consists of chains of corner linked MO 6 octahedra parallel with the c-axis. The magnetic susceptibility was measured between 4 and 300 K. The compounds obey the Curie-Weiss law including a Van Vleck temperature independent term. Pr 3SbO 7 shows a small deviation from this law below 25 K.