HREM on Lu2NiBC2, a Phase Related to Superconducting LuNi2B2C

The compound Lu2NiBC2 has been studied with high resolution electron microscopy. Lu2NiBC2 adopts a layer structure with a sequence (Ni2-B-LuC-Lu-C2-Lu-LuC-B)n. The monoclinic unit cell consists of two of these layer sequences and has cell dimensions a = 0.5, b = 0.5, c = 2.64 nm, β = 93°. The stacking part LuC-B-Ni2-B-LuC is like that of the superconducting compound LuNi2B2C (Tc = 16.6 K). The possibility of rendering this compound superconducting is discussed.