Crystal growth of a new series of non-centrosymmetric oxides, Ln3FeO6 (Ln = La, Nd, Sm, Eu and Gd)

Single crystals of Ln3FeO6 (Ln = La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd) were grown out of a high temperature hydroxide melt. The crystal structures were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. These oxides crystallize in the polar space group Cmc21 where the orientations of the FeO4 tetrahedra determine the polarity of the structure. The lanthanide atoms are located in a seven-fold, square face mono-capped trigonal prismatic coordination environment; these polyhedra are edge-shared to form zig-zag chains.

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