Uranium‐Transition Metal Silicides of the AB₂X₂ Composition

Abstract

Abstract The existence of a new series of compounds has been established in the system UMSi (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni and Cu) which are isostructural with the previously reported ThM 2 Si 2 and ThM 2 Ge 2 compounds (space group I 4/mmm with Z = 2). The variable parameter z defining the position of silicon atoms was determined by computing the electron density distribution along the c‐axis. The analysis of the principal structure parameters of some of these isostructural ternary phases indicates that small irregularities can be explained in terms of odd or even number of electrons present in the A and/or M atoms.