B. Bagautdinov et al., Modulated structures of Cs2HgCl4: the 5a superstructure at 185 K and the 3c superstructure at 176 K, ACT CRYST B, 55, 1999, pp. 886-895
Crystalline dicaesium mercury tetrachloride (Cs2HgCl4) is isomorphous with
beta-K2SO4 (space group Pnma, Z = 4) in its normal phase at room temperatur
e. On cooling a sequence of incommensurate and commensurate superstructures
occurs, below T = 221 K with modulations parallel to a*, and below 184 K w
ith modulations along c*. The commensurately modulated structures at T = 18
5 K with q = 1/5a* and at T= 176 K with q = 1/3c* were determined using X-r
ay scattering with synchrotron radiation. The structure at T = 185 K has su
perspace group Pnma(alpha, 0, 0)0ss with alpha = 0.2. Lattice parameters we
re determined as a = 5 x 9.7729 (1), b = 7.5276 (4) and c = 13.3727 (7) Ang
strom. Structure refinements converged to R = 0.050 (R = 0.042 for 939 main
reflections and R = 0.220 for 307 satellites) for the section t = 0.05 of
superspace. The fivefold supercell has space group Pn2(1)a. The structure a
t T = 176 K has superspace group Pnma(0, 0, gamma)0s0 with gamma = 1/3. Lat
tice parameters were determined as a = 9.789 (3), b = 7.541 (3) and c = 3 x
13.418 (4) Angstrom. Structure refinements converged to R = 0.067 (R = 0.0
48 for 2130 main reflections, and R = 0.135 for 2382 satellite reflections)
for the section t = 0. The threefold supercell has space group P112(1)/a.
It is shown that the structures of both low-temperature phases can be chara
cterized as different superstructures of the periodic room-temperature stru
cture. The superstructure of the 5a-modulated phase is analysed in terms of
displacements of the Cs atoms, and rotations and distortions of HgCl4 tetr
ahedral groups In the 3c-modulated phase the distortions of the tetrahedra
are relaxed, but they are replaced by translations of the tetrahedral group
s in addition to rotations.