Lattice parameters values and phase diagram for the Cu 2Zn 1− zFe zGeSe 4 alloy system

Abstract

X-ray powder diffraction and differential thermal analysis (DTA) measurements were made on polycrystalline samples of the Cu 2Zn 1− z Fe z GeSe 4 alloy system. The diffraction patterns were used to show the equilibrium conditions and to estimate crystalline parameter values. It was found that, at room temperature, a single phase solid solution with the tetragonal stannite α structure ( I 4 ¯ 2 m ) occurs across the whole composition range. The DTA thermograms were used to construct the phase diagram of the Cu 2Zn 1− z Fe z GeSe 4 alloy system. It was confirmed that the Cu 2ZnGeSe 4 compound melts incongruently. It was observed that undercooling effects occur for samples with z > 0.9.