The crystal structure of methane phase III

Methane is the simplest organic molecule, and like many supposedly simple molecular materials it has a rich phase diagram. While crystal structures could be determined for two of the solid phases, that of the low temperature phase III remained unsolved. Using high-resolution neutron powder diffraction and a direct-space Monte Carlo simulated annealing approach, this fundamental structure has now finally been solved. It is orthorhombic with space group Cmca, and 16 molecules in the unit cell. The structure is closely related to that of phase II, yet is no subgroup of it. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.