DOE OSTI2020
YbCd3 is beta Cu3Ti-like structured and crystallizes in the hexagonal P6_3/mmc space group. The structure is three-dimensional. Yb is bonded to twelve Cd atoms to form YbCd12 cuboctahedra that share corners with six equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, corners with twelve CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra, edges with eighteen CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra, faces with eight equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, and faces with twelve CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra. There are six shorter (3.24 Å) and six longer (3.30 Å) Yb–Cd bond lengths. There are three inequivalent Cd sites. In the first Cd site, Cd is bonded to four equivalent Yb and eight Cd atoms to form distorted CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra that share corners with four equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, corners with fourteen equivalent CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra, edges with six equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, edges with twelve CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra, faces with four equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, and faces with sixteen CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra. There are a spread of Cd–Cd bond distances ranging from 3.19–3.37 Å. In the second Cd site, Cd is bonded to four equivalent Yb and eight Cd atoms to form distorted CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra that share corners with four equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, corners with fourteen CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra, edges with six equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, edges with twelve CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra, faces with four equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, and faces with sixteen CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra. There are a spread of Cd–Cd bond distances ranging from 3.19–3.37 Å. In the third Cd site, Cd is bonded to four equivalent Yb and eight Cd atoms to form distorted CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra that share corners with four equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, corners with fourteen CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra, edges with six equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, edges with twelve CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra, faces with four equivalent YbCd12 cuboctahedra, and faces with sixteen CdYb4Cd8 cuboctahedra.