Structure and growth of single crystal SiP2 using flux method

• A new phase of SiP2 has been grown in Sn flux.
• A mineralizer was used for crystal growth.
• It is a layered structure semiconductor and its structure is closely related to the known phase.

A new orthorhombic phase of silicon diphosphide has been grown in Sn flux by using Gd as a mineralizer. It is a needle-like crystal and its structure has been determined through single crystal X-ray diffraction and elemental analysis. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnma (No. 62, Z = 8) with cell parameters: a = 10.0908(19) Å, b = 3.4388(6) Å and c = 13.998(3) Å and the final R value is 0.0294. It has a layered structure that is closely related to the Pbam phase of SiP2. Its optical band gap is 1.45 eV and it decomposes at 1002 K.

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