Growth and characterization of BaZnGa*

We report the growth, structure and characterization of BaZnGa, identifying it as the sole known ternary compound in the Ba-Zn-Ga system. Single crystals of BaZnGa, which adopts a new structural type (Pearson symbol tI36), can be grown out of excess Ba-Zn liquid as selflux. The structure contains three unique Ba sites and three M=Zn/Ga sites. Using DFT calculations we can argue that whereas one of these three M sites is probably solely occupied by Ga, the other two M sites, most likely, have mixed Zn/Ga occupancies. Temperature dependent resistivity and magnetization measurements suggest that BaZnGa is a poor metal with no electronic or magnetic phase transitions between 1.8 and 300 K. As time allows, societal implications of this discoverry will also be discussed.