Chemical pressure due to impurities in trigonal compounds EuT₂Pn₂ ($T =$ Cd, Zn; $Pn =$ P, As, Sb)

This work provides a review of crystal growth, crystal structure, compositional details, magnetism, thermodynamic, and transport behavior in the family of the trigonal intermetallic systems EuT₂Pn₂ ($T=$ Cd, Zn; $Pn=$ P, As, Sb; space group P3̄m1, No.164). The physical properties observed in these materials, and how these change depending on the growth conditions are discussed. In particular, the case of EuCd₂As₂ is considered where data from many sources are available. The possible small contamination of the material during crystal growth experiments is hard to verify as it is often below the detection limit of the standard characterization techniques. It turns out that samples from different sources exhibit variations in the lattice parameters exceeding the experimental errors. The review of these parameters reveals that they are very similar for antiferromagnetic samples grown from Sn flux in Al₂O₃ crucibles, while there is a wider spread for samples grown from salt flux grown in SiO₂ ampules, which are mostly ferromagnetic. The influence of the different experimental setups with regard to possible impurities in the samples is discussed.