AgTeI was obtained from stoichiometric amounts of silver and tellurium
in hydroiodic acid (67%) under hydrothermal conditions, The compound
crystallizes orthorhombic (space group Fddd, Z = 32, lattice constants
: a = 4.868(1) Angstrom, b = 25.00(1) Angstrom, c = 25.73(1) Angstrom)
; the refinement converged at R = 0.045 (for F-obs greater than or equ
al to 4 sigma(F)). The crystal structure of AgTeI is very closely rela
ted to that of the copper telluride halides CuTeX (X = Cl, Br, I). The
crystal structure contains two characteristic building units: one-dim
ensional infinite screws of tellurium atoms and one-dimensional infini
te chains of edge sharing silver tetrahedra centered by silver atoms.