  The superconductor YB6 has the second highest critical temperature Tc among
the boride family MBn. We report measurements of the specific heat,
resistivity, magnetic susceptibility and thermal expansion from 2 to 300 K,
using a single crystal with Tc = 7.2 K. The superconducting gap is
characteristic of medium-strong coupling. The specific heat, resistivity and
expansivity curves are deconvolved to yield approximations of the phonon
density of states, the spectral electron-phonon scattering function and the
phonon density of states weighted by the frequency-dependent Grueneisen
parameter respectively. Lattice vibrations extend to high frequencies >100 meV,
but a dominant Einstein-like mode at ~8 meV, associated with the vibrations of
yttrium ions in oversized boron cages, appears to provide most of the
superconducting coupling and gives rise to an unusual temperature behavior of
several observable quantities. A surface critical field Hc3 is also observed.
