Experimental partial phase relationships of the Dy–Sn–Te system at room temperature

The isothermal section of Dy–Sn–Te ternary system at room temperature at Te rich corner (Te ≥ 50 at.%) as well as the method of synthesis of the Dy–Sn–Te system alloys has been described in this paper. Phase composition and phase transition of the samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Experimental results show that the composition and microstructure of the samples are uniform and the samples reach equilibrium after heat treatment. In the isothermal section of Dy–Sn–Te ternary system at room temperature at the Te rich corner (Te ≥ 50 at.%), 5 three-phase regions, i.e. SnTe + DyTe3 + Te, DyTe3 + SnTe + Dy4Te9, DyTe1.75 + SnTe + Dy4Te9, Dy2Te3 + SnTe + DyTe1.75 and DyTe + (Sn,Dy)Te + Dy2Te3 are determined. The solubility of Dy in SnTe is about 9 at.%. The lattice parameters of Sn1−xDyxTe (x = x = 0–0.09) decrease with the increase of Dy content.