Crystal Growth, Structure, and Physical Properties of SmCu₄Ga₈

Single crystals of SmCu4Ga8 have been grown using Ga flux and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. SmCu4Ga8, isostructural to SmZn11, crystallizes in the hexagonal P6/mmm (No. 191) space group, with Z = 3 and lattice parameters a = 8.865(2) Å and c = 8.607(2) Å. Magnetic susceptibility data show antiferromagnetic ordering at 3.3 K. Metallic behavior is observed in the temperature range 2−300 K. A large positive magnetoresistance (MR % = (ρH − ρ0)/ρ0 × 100) up to 40% is also observed near TN. In this paper, we present the structure and physical properties of SmCu4Ga8.