Structure and physical properties of EuTa2O6 tungsten bronze polymorph

A tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) polymorph of EuTa2O6 was prepared and analyzed. EuTa2O6 crystallizes in the centrosymmetric Pnam space group (with unit cell: a = 12.3693, b = 12.4254, and c = 7.7228 Å) isomorphous with orthorhombic β-SrTa2O6. In contrast to early reports, we see no evidence of deviation from paramagnetic Curie-Weiss behavior among the Eu2+ 4f7spins in EuTa2O6 down to 2 K. Dielectric constant shows a broad peak at ca. 50 K with dielectric dispersion resembling diffuse phase transition. The relaxation time, however, follows a simple (non-freezing) thermally activated process with an activation energy of 92 meV and an attempt frequency of f0 = 5.79 × 1012 Hz. A thermal conductivity of EuTa2O6 shows a low-temperature (T ≈ 30 K) “plateau” region reminiscent of a glass-like behaviour in Nb-based TTB compounds. This behaviour can be attributed to the loosely bound Eu2+ ions occupying large tricapped trigonal prismatic sites in the EuTa2O6 structure.