(IUCr) Crystallography Journals Online

Acta Cryst. (2005). E61, i155-i157 [ doi:10.1107/S1600536805021343 ]

Lanthanum dimagnesium

B. Belgacem, S. Yahyaoui, P. Y. Demchenko, O. I. Bodak, M. Dusek and R. Ben Hassen

Abstract: Single crystals of the LaMg₂ cubic Laves phase were synthesized by arc melting. The binary LaMg₂ compound has been shown to adopt the MgCu₂-type structure. The coordination sphere of the rare earth metal, adopting a site symmetry of $\\overline{1}$ , consists only of 12 Mg atoms. The site symmetry of the alkaline earth metal is $\\overline{3}m$ , giving rise to superimposed distorted MgLa₆ and MgMg₆ octahedra.

Online 9 July 2005