Crystal growth and investigation of the solid solutions of the system CuGe 2P 3-I 2-IV-VI 3

Abstract

The compounds Cu 2GeS 3, Cu 2SiS 3 and Cu 2SiSe 3 were dissolved in the ternary compound CuGe 2P 3. A modified Bridgman technique was used in the preparation, and good quality single crystals were grown for single phase samples. A complete solid solution for the system CuGe 2P 3-Cu 2GeS 3 was found, with lattice parameters changing from 5.3678Å to 5.2895Å for 90% CuGe 2P 3 and obeying Vegards law. In the CuGe 2P 3-Cu 2GeSe 3 system the existence of the solid solution appears in the region of 0.25≧ x≧0.9 when x is CuGe 2P 3. However, the compound CuGe 2P 3 does not form any solid solution with the compounds Cu 2SiS 3 and Cu 2SiSe 3.