The structure of Bi2CdO2[GeO4] was solved ab initio on the basis of la
boratory and synchrotron X-ray powder data, The high temperature ortho
rhombic phase, stable at room temperature, crystallizes in Pbcn (60),
Z = 8, a = 10.4969(1) Angstrom, b = 10.0944(1) Angstrom, c = 5.60601(3
) Angstrom, and V = 594.01(1) Angstrom(3) with 14 refinable positional
parameters, The structure consists of [GeO4] tetrahedra, strongly dis
torted trigonal [CdO6] prisms and irregular [BiO4+2] polyhedra, At low
temperatures, the material undergoes a small distortion to monoclinic
symmetry (gamma = 90.37 degrees at 20 K). (C) 1996 Academic Press, In
c.