INVERTED TWINNING IN INTERGROWTH TUNGSTEN BRONZES

A new type of twinning occurring in intergrowth tungsten bronzes (ITB) is described, revealed by high-resolution electron microscopy. Across the twin boundary the two structure elements of hexagonal tungsten br onze- and tetragonally distorted ReO3-types are interchanged and grow in strict geometrical relationship to each other. The structure is thu s 'inverted' and in the general case the two 'twin' parts represent di fferent members of the structure family. Some members remain invariant upon inversion, however. This defect is most often seen as ribbons in an ITB matrix in Mo-doped samples CsxMoyW1-yO3, which require a lower synthesis temperature than pure tungsten bronzes. They may be frozen- in stages of a slow ordering process. A similar type of twinning might be found in other intergrowth structures.