Mg2Yb is Hexagonal Laves structured and crystallizes in the hexagonal P6_3/mmc space group. There are two inequivalent Mg sites. In the first Mg site, Mg(2) is bonded to six equivalent Mg(1) and six equivalent Yb(1) atoms to form a mixture of corner, face, and edge-sharing MgYb6Mg6 cuboctahedra. In the second Mg site, Mg(1) is bonded to two equivalent Mg(2), four equivalent Mg(1), and six equivalent Yb(1) atoms to form a mixture of corner, face, and edge-sharing MgYb6Mg6 cuboctahedra. Yb(1) is bonded in a 16-coordinate geometry to three equivalent Mg(2), nine equivalent Mg(1), and four equivalent Yb(1) atoms.
Mg2Yb is Hexagonal Laves structured and crystallizes in the hexagonal P6_3/mmc space group. There are two inequivalent Mg sites. In the first Mg site, Mg(2) is bonded to six equivalent Mg(1) and six equivalent Yb(1) atoms to form a mixture of corner, face, and edge-sharing MgYb6Mg6 cuboctahedra. All Mg(2)-Mg(1) bond lengths are 3.05 Å. All Mg(2)-Yb(1) bond lengths are 3.65 Å. In the second Mg site, Mg(1) is bonded to two equivalent Mg(2), four equivalent Mg(1), and six equivalent Yb(1) atoms to form a mixture of corner, face, and edge-sharing MgYb6Mg6 cuboctahedra. There are two shorter (3.09 Å) and two longer (3.14 Å) Mg(1)-Mg(1) bond lengths. There are two shorter (3.54 Å) and four longer (3.62 Å) Mg(1)-Yb(1) bond lengths. Yb(1) is bonded in a 16-coordinate geometry to three equivalent Mg(2), nine equivalent Mg(1), and four equivalent Yb(1) atoms. There is one shorter (3.69 Å) and three longer (3.80 Å) Yb(1)-Yb(1) bond lengths.