Synthesis and crystal structure determination of the new olivine-type compound Mn2SnSe4

Abstract

The Mn2SnSe4 compound was synthesized by the melt and annealing technique and its structure was refined by the Rietveld method using X-ray powder diffraction data. This compound crystallizes in the olivine-type structure with unit cell parameters a = 12.9028(2) Å, b = 7.9001(1) Å, c = 6.5015(1) Å, V = 662.72(2) Å3 in the orthorhombic space group Pnma (Nº 62). This olivine structure can be described from a hexagonal close-packing of selenium atoms where manganese atoms occupy ½ of the octahedral sites while thin atoms lay in ⅛ of the tetrahedra.