Negative thermal expansion in one-dimension of a new double sulfate AgHo(SO4)(2) with isolated SO4 tetrahedra
A double holmium-silver sulfate was obtained for the first time. The temperature intervals for the formation and stability of the compound were determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The crystal structure of AgHo(SO4)2 was determined by Rietveld method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the compound crystallizes in the monoclinic syngony, space group P21/m, with the unit cell parameters a = 4.71751 (4) Å, b = 6.84940 (6) Å and c = 9.89528 (9) Å, β = 95.1466 (4)°, V = 318.448 (5) Å3, Z = 2, RB = 1.55 %, T = 303 K. Two types of sulfate tetrahedra were found in the structure, which significantly affected the spectral properties in the infrared range. In the temperature range of 143−703 K, a negative thermal expansion along the b direction accompanied by a positive thermal expansion along the a and c directions was observed. It was established that negative thermal expansion is the result of the deformation of sulfate tetrahedra, which is affected by the movement of holmium and silver atoms. The excitation in the blue spectral range (457.9 nm) produces a luminescence in light blue (489 nm), green (545 nm) and red (654 nm) spectral ranges, and the latter two were of comparable intensity that is favorable for WLED sources. The observed luminescent band distribution is ascribed to the specific crystal field at Ho3+ ion sites rather than a variation of radiationless probability.