| Names | |
|---|---|
| Other names Ytterbium bismuth platinum | |
| Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol) | |
| |
| |
| Properties | |
| YbBiPt | |
| Structure | |
| Half Heusler structure (MgAgAs type) | |
| F43m (No. 216) | |
a = 659.53 pm[1] | |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in theirstandard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). | |
YbBiPt (ytterbium-bismuth-platinum; also named YbPtBi) is anintermetallic material which at low temperatures exhibits an extremely high value ofspecific heat, which is a characteristic ofheavy-fermion behavior. YbBiPt has anoncentrosymmetric cubiccrystal structure; in particular it belongs to the ternaryhalf-Heusler compounds.
YbBiPt was discovered byZachary Fisk (Los Alamos National Laboratory) and coworkers in 1991 in the context of material research devoted to correlated electron systems such asheavy-fermion metals andKondo insulators.[2][3] Then the material was studied in detail due to its unconventional properties at very low temperatures (below 1 K).
YbBiPt crystallizes in the MgAgAsstructure, which is also known as the half-Heusler structure. YbBiPt exhibits metallic behavior, e.g. continuously decreasingelectrical resistivity upon cooling. The temperature dependence of the specific heat shows an anomaly at 0.4K and linear behavior at yet lower temperatures with the enormous Sommerfeld coefficient (which describes the linear-in-temperature contribution to the specific heat caused by metallic electrons) of 8J/(mol Yb K2),[2] which indicates an effective mass of the charge carriers that is extremely large even forheavy-fermion standards.
The crystal structure of YbBiPt makes it an example of theHeusler compounds,[4] more precisely of the so-called half-Heuslers which have XYZ composition.[4] In recent years, there has been a large interest in this material class due to the large variety of physical properties that can be found, and many new Heusler materials have been discovered.[4]