Crystal growth and properties of Ln{sub 2}Ag{sub 1-x}Ga{sub 10-y} (Ln=La, Ce), a disordered variant of the Ce{sub 2}NiGa{sub 10}-structure type

We report the flux growth and characterization of Ln{sub 2}Ag{sub 1-x}Ga{sub 10-y} (Ln=La, Ce), a disordered variant of the Ce{sub 2}NiGa{sub 10} structure type. Single crystals of La{sub 2}Ag{sub 1-x}Ga{sub 10-y} (x{approx}0.3; y{approx}0.6) and Ce{sub 2}Ag{sub 1-x}Ga{sub 10-y} (x{approx}0.3; y{approx}0.9) were grown by the self-flux method and characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Transport measurements of Ce{sub 2}Ag{sub 1-x}Ga{sub 10-y} (x{approx}0.3; y{approx}0.9) reveal metallic behavior with a transition at 3 K. Magnetic measurements indicate antiferromagnetic ordering at 3 K of localized Ce{sup 3+} moments for Ce{sub 2}Ag{sub 1-x}Ga{sub 10-y}. Magnetoresistance is positive with a maximum value of 16% at 9 T. La{sub 2}Ag{sub 1-x}Ga{sub 10-y} exhibits metallic behavior with magnetic susceptibility showing temperature independent paramagnetism. We will compare Ce{sub 2}Ag{sub 1-x}Ga{sub 10-y} (x{approx}0.3; y{approx}0.9) to Ce{sub 2}NiGa{sub 10} to examine the effects of transition metal substitution and to the related Ce(Ag,Ga){sub 4} phase to examine the effects of crystal structure on the physical properties. - Graphical abstract: The figure illustrates the structure of Ce{sub 2}Ag{sub 0.7(1)}Ga{sub 9.1(1)}, which can be described as a distorted variant of the Ce{sub 2}NiGa{sub 10} structure. The distorted gallium segments are best described as variants of CeGa{sub 6} (PuGa{sub 6}-structure type), and the distorted Ce(Ag,Ga){sub 4}-type segments are built of layers of face-sharing tetragonal antiprisms. Here M=Ag+Ga and the shaded atoms are partially occupied.