The lattice constants of ternary and Quaternary alloys in the PbTe-SnTe-MnTe system

The study of structural properties of quaternary Pb1-x-ySnxMnyTe alloys rev ealed that they crystallise in a cubic structure of NaCl-type for a wide re gion of manganese content (up to y = 0.16). It was found from X-ray measure ments and microprobe analysis that Vegard's law is obeyed. The dependencies of the lattice constants on composition for Pb1-x-ySnxMny, Pb1-yMnyTe and Sn1-yMnyTe were used to extract the lattice parameter of NaCl-type MnTe pha se by extrapolation. The experimental data were also used to obtain an impr oved estimate of the covalent octahedral radius for Mn. (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.