Crystal Structures and Property Measurements of Rare Earth Magnesium Thiosilicates Synthesized via Flux Crystal Growth Utilizing the Boron Chalcogen Mixture (BCM) Method

• Published in: Inorganic chemistry Vol. 62; no. 19; pp. 7446 - 7452
• Main Authors: King, Adam A., Breton, Logan S., Morrison, Greg, Smith, Mark D., Liang, Mingli, Halasyamani, P. Shiv, zur Loye, Hans-Conrad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 15.05.2023; American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Subjects: Chemistry
• ISSN: 0020-1669; 1520-510X
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c00708

Nine new rare earth magnesium-containing thiosilicates of the formula RE3Mg0.5SiS7 (Ln = Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er) were synthesized in an alkali halide flux using the boron chalcogen mixture (BCM) method. Crystals of high quality were produced, and their structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The compounds crystallize in the hexagonal crystal system in the P63 space group. Phase pure powders of the compounds were used for magnetic susceptibility measurements and for second-harmonic generation (SHG) measurements. Magnetic measurements indicate that Ce3Mg0.5SiS7, Sm3Mg0.5SiS7, and Dy3Mg0.5SiS7 exhibit paramagnetic behavior with a negative Weiss temperature over the 2–300 K temperature range. SHG measurements of La3Mg0.5SiS7 demonstrated SHG activity with an efficiency of 0.16 times the standard potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP).