Structure and Magnetic Properties of (Cr,Ni)4-xCoxSi

The crystal structure of the (Cr,Ni)4Si phase with and without Co was refined from X-ray powder diffraction data. The compound crystallises with an Au4Al-type structure (Pearson symbol cP20, space group P213): unit-cell parameter a = 0.611959(6) nm for the composition (Cr0.312Ni0.688)4Si, a = 0.612094(6) nm for (Cr0.375Ni0.625)4Si, and a = 0.612316(6) nm for (Cr0.337Co0.063Ni0.600)4Si. The magnetic susceptibility was measured in external fields up to 7 T at temperatures between 1.8 and 400 K. The three investigated samples exhibited paramagnetic behaviour described by the modified Curie-Weiss law: χ0 = 146∙10-6 emu g-at.-1, μeff = 0.21 μB/atom, θP = -13 K for (Cr0.312Ni0.688)4Si; χ0 = 158∙10-6 emu g-at.-1, μeff = 0.20 μB/atom, θP = -15 K for (Cr0.375Ni0.625)4Si; χ0 = 169∙10-6 emu g-at.-1, μeff = 0.18 μB/atom, θP = -52 K for (Cr0.337Co0.063Ni0.600)4Si.