Magnetic and electrical properties of flux grown single crystals of Ln{sub 6}M{sub 4}Al{sub 43} (Ln=Gd, Yb; M=Cr, Mo, W)

Millimeter-sized single crystals of Ln{sub 6}M{sub 4}Al{sub 43} (Ln=Gd, Yb; M=Cr, Mo, W) were successfully grown with a molten aluminum flux. Synthetic conditions and physical properties for single crystals of all six analogs are discussed. The compounds exhibit metallic resistivity with room temperature values between 0.1 and 0.6 m{Omega}-cm. The Yb analogs are Pauli paramagnets with the Yb ion adopting the nonmagnetic divalent configuration (Yb{sup 2+}). Gd{sub 6}Cr{sub 4}Al{sub 43}, Gd{sub 6}Mo{sub 4}Al{sub 43}, and Gd{sub 6}W{sub 4}Al{sub 43} appear to order antiferromagnetically at 19, 15, and 15 K, respectively. - Graphical abstract: The crystal structure of Yb{sub 6}Cr{sub 4}Al{sub 43}. The light and dark green polyhedra show the chromium sublattice. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Single crystals up to 0.5 cm in length were grown with a molten aluminum flux. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Physical property measurements were conducted on single crystals. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Gadolinium analogs appear to order antiferromagnetically with positive {theta}. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer All analogs show metallic resistivity.