Single crystal preparation and crystal structure of the Cu2Zn/Cd,Hg/SnSe4 compounds

Single crystals of Cu2Zn/Cd/SnSe4 were grown using a solution-fusion method. The crystal structure of the Cu2Zn/Cd,Hg/SnSe4 compounds were investigated using X-ray powder diffraction. These compounds crystallize in the stannite structure (space group I (4) over bar 2m) with the lattice parameters: a=0.56882(9), c=1.13378(9) nm, c/a=1.993 (Cu2ZnSnSe4), a=0.58337(2), c=1.14039(4) nm, c/a= 1.955 (Cu2CdSnSe4) and a=0.58288(1), c=1.14179(2) nm, c/a=1.959 (Cu2HgSnSe4). Atomic parameters were refined in the isotropic approximation (R-1=0.0517, R-1=0.0511 and R-1=0.0695 for Cu2ZnSnSe4 Cu2CdSnSe4 and Cu2HgSnSe4, respectively). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.