Rare-Earth Borides

Book excerpt: Rare-earth borides have attracted continuous interest for more than half a century both from the point of view of fundamental condensed matter physics and for practical applications in various fields of engineering. They demonstrate a wealth of unusual electronic and magnetic properties that have been closely investigated in recent decades using advanced spectroscopies and state-of-the-art physical characterization methods. Authored by leading experts in the field, this book features a comprehensive collection of reviews offering a cutting-edge summary of the research on rare-earth borides from various viewpoints. It includes chapters on the growth and characterization of single-crystal and thin-film samples, detailed description of their lattice structure and dynamics, electronic and magnetic properties in the bulk and at the surface, low-temperature ordering phenomena, and theoretical and experimental description of the unusual spectroscopic properties from the perspective of modern x-ray and neutron scattering, Raman spectroscopy, and electron spin resonance. The book will appeal to anyone interested in the physics and chemistry of solids and low-temperature physics, especially to researchers and postgraduate students who study magnetic and electronic properties of rare-earth compounds.