Structural and Electrical Properties of New Filled Skutterudite Compound BaFe4As12 Prepared at High Pressure

Powder x-ray diffraction patterns of BaFe 4 As 12 with synchrotron radiation have been studied at ambient pressure and at high pressures. A crystal structure of BaFe 4 As 12 was refined by the Rietveld analysis of the powder x-ray diffraction data at ambient pressure. The electrical property of BaFe 4 As 12 have been studied at low temperature. This arsenide shows the metallic behavior. The volume vs. pressure curve for this arsenide has in detail been investigated at room temperature. The cell volume of BaFe 4 As 12 decreased smoothly with increasing pressure up to 10 GPa. A bulk modulus was estimated from the volume vs. pressure curve fitted by a Birch equation of state. The bulk modulus ( B 0 ) and its pressure derivative ( B 0 ') of BaFe 4 As 12 are 107(1) GPa and 3.6(3), respectively. The value of B 0 for this arsenide is the same as that of CeFe 4 As 12 , smaller than that of BaRu 4 As 12 .