Thermal expansion and lattice dynamics of RB66 compounds at low temperatures

Thermal characteristics of the phonon and magnon subsystems of icosahedral borides RB66 (R = Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Eu, or Lu) have been studied based on the obtained experimental data on the thermal expansion of the borides and the earlier results on their heat capacity in the range of 2–300 K. The contribution to the expansion of borides containing paramagnetic R 3+ ions, which is characteristic of transition to the spin-glass state, has been revealed. The phonon spectrum moments of RB66 compounds and the Grüneisen parameters have been calculated.