Single-Crystal Growth And Physical Properties Of Euzn2ge2

In this study, single crystals of EuZn2Ge2 were grown Itom Ph Ilux. The structure, as determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) data, was ThCr2Si2-type, I4/minm, a = 4.34210(10), c = 10.5766(5)angstrom. The magnetic, thermal, and electronic transport properties of the single crystals were investigated based on their magnetic susceptibility chi(T), isothermal magnetization M(H), specific heat C(T), and electrical resistivity rho(T) measurements, The EuZn2Ge2 compound contains divalent europium and orders antiferromagnetically at T-N1 = 14.9K with a second-order phase transition. In addition, successive transitions were observed at T-N2 = 8.4 K and T-t similar to 5K. At T-N2, the C(T) and chi(T) data indicated a sharp peak, which resembled a lirst-order transition hut exhibited no hysteresis. To verify Whether a structural phase transition occurs at T-N2, we performed low -temperature single -crystal XRD measurements. The XRD pattern did not indicate any structural transition in the crystal lattice, from the tetragonal to a lower symmetry, Instead, changes in the lattice parameter deviations Delta a/a and Delta c/c of the order of 6 x 10(-5), associated with the magnetostriction effect, were observed at approximately T-N2, presumably owing to a magnetic order-order transition from an incommensurate to a commensurate magnetic structure.