Crystal structure and thermal expansion of perovskites containing uranium (VI) and rare-earth elements

By the method of high-temperature reactions in solid phase, compounds with the general formula MII(AIII2/3U1/3)O3 (MII=Sr, AIII=Sc, In; MII=Ba, AIII=Sc, In, Y, Nd–Lu) were synthesized. Their structures (space groups Fm−3m and Pnma) were refined by the Rietveld method and morphotropic transition in Ba(Ln2/3U1/3)O3 on the border of Gd-Tb was discovered. By means of high-temperature X-ray diffraction, phase transitions were studied and thermal expansion coefficients were determined.