Er5Ni3Al3Ge4 crystallizes in the orthorhombic Pmmn space group. There are three inequivalent Er sites. In the first Er site, Er(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to one Ni(2), three equivalent Ni(1), two equivalent Al(1), two equivalent Al(2), two equivalent Ge(1), and two equivalent Ge(2) atoms. In the second Er site, Er(2) is bonded in a 10-coordinate geometry to three equivalent Ni(1), two equivalent Al(1), two equivalent Ge(1), and three equivalent Ge(2) atoms. In the third Er site, Er(3) is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to one Ni(2), two equivalent Al(2), four equivalent Al(1), and four equivalent Ge(1) atoms. There are two inequivalent Ni sites. In the first Ni site, Ni(1) is bonded in a 10-coordinate geometry to three equivalent Er(1), three equivalent Er(2), one Ge(1), and three equivalent Ge(2) atoms. In the second Ni site, Ni(2) is bonded in a distorted q6 geometry to one Er(3), two equivalent Er(1), two equivalent Al(2), and four equivalent Al(1) atoms. There are two inequivalent Al sites. In the first Al site, Al(1) is bonded to two equivalent Er(1), two equivalent Er(2), two equivalent Er(3), two equivalent Ni(2), one Al(1), one Al(2), one Ge(1), and one Ge(2) atom to form a mixture of distorted face and edge-sharing AlEr6Al2Ni2Ge2 cuboctahedra. In the second Al site, Al(2) is bonded in a 12-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Er(3), four equivalent Er(1), two equivalent Ni(2), two equivalent Al(1), and two equivalent Ge(1) atoms. There are two inequivalent Ge sites. In the first Ge site, Ge(1) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Er(1), two equivalent Er(2), two equivalent Er(3), one Ni(1), one Al(1), and one Al(2) atom. In the second Ge site, Ge(2) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Er(1), three equivalent Er(2), three equivalent Ni(1), and one Al(1) atom.
Er5Ni3Al3Ge4 crystallizes in the orthorhombic Pmmn space group. There are three inequivalent Er sites. In the first Er site, Er(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to one Ni(2), three equivalent Ni(1), two equivalent Al(1), two equivalent Al(2), two equivalent Ge(1), and two equivalent Ge(2) atoms. The Er(1)-Ni(2) bond length is 2.87 Å. There are two shorter (2.96 Å) and one longer (3.00 Å) Er(1)-Ni(1) bond length. Both Er(1)-Al(1) bond lengths are 3.22 Å. Both Er(1)-Al(2) bond lengths are 3.25 Å. Both Er(1)-Ge(1) bond lengths are 2.90 Å. Both Er(1)-Ge(2) bond lengths are 2.95 Å. In the second Er site, Er(2) is bonded in a 10-coordinate geometry to three equivalent Ni(1), two equivalent Al(1), two equivalent Ge(1), and three equivalent Ge(2) atoms. There is one shorter (2.94 Å) and two longer (3.21 Å) Er(2)-Ni(1) bond lengths. Both Er(2)-Al(1) bond lengths are 3.17 Å. Both Er(2)-Ge(1) bond lengths are 2.90 Å. There is one shorter (2.92 Å) and two longer (2.97 Å) Er(2)-Ge(2) bond lengths. In the third Er site, Er(3) is bonded in a 5-coordinate geometry to one Ni(2), two equivalent Al(2), four equivalent Al(1), and four equivalent Ge(1) atoms. The Er(3)-Ni(2) bond length is 2.80 Å. Both Er(3)-Al(2) bond lengths are 3.21 Å. All Er(3)-Al(1) bond lengths are 3.22 Å. All Er(3)-Ge(1) bond lengths are 2.94 Å. There are two inequivalent Ni sites. In the first Ni site, Ni(1) is bonded in a 10-coordinate geometry to three equivalent Er(1), three equivalent Er(2), one Ge(1), and three equivalent Ge(2) atoms. The Ni(1)-Ge(1) bond length is 2.44 Å. There are two shorter (2.43 Å) and one longer (2.54 Å) Ni(1)-Ge(2) bond length. In the second Ni site, Ni(2) is bonded in a distorted q6 geometry to one Er(3), two equivalent Er(1), two equivalent Al(2), and four equivalent Al(1) atoms. Both Ni(2)-Al(2) bond lengths are 2.63 Å. All Ni(2)-Al(1) bond lengths are 2.60 Å. There are two inequivalent Al sites. In the first Al site, Al(1) is bonded to two equivalent Er(1), two equivalent Er(2), two equivalent Er(3), two equivalent Ni(2), one Al(1), one Al(2), one Ge(1), and one Ge(2) atom to form a mixture of distorted face and edge-sharing AlEr6Al2Ni2Ge2 cuboctahedra. The Al(1)-Al(1) bond length is 2.73 Å. The Al(1)-Al(2) bond length is 2.72 Å. The Al(1)-Ge(1) bond length is 2.77 Å. The Al(1)-Ge(2) bond length is 2.77 Å. In the second Al site, Al(2) is bonded in a 12-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Er(3), four equivalent Er(1), two equivalent Ni(2), two equivalent Al(1), and two equivalent Ge(1) atoms. Both Al(2)-Ge(1) bond lengths are 2.67 Å. There are two inequivalent Ge sites. In the first Ge site, Ge(1) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Er(1), two equivalent Er(2), two equivalent Er(3), one Ni(1), one Al(1), and one Al(2) atom. In the second Ge site, Ge(2) is bonded in a 9-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Er(1), three equivalent Er(2), three equivalent Ni(1), and one Al(1) atom.