Thermal expansion and structural properties of (CuAlTe 2 ) 1–x (CuAlSe 2 ) x solid solutions

Investigations of the thermal expansion of (CuAlTe 2 ) 1–x (CuAlSe 2 ) x solid solutions in the temperature range from 100 to 800 K have been carried out for the first time. It has been demonstrated that the thermal expansion coefficient α L grows considerably in the temperature range from 100 to 300 K, whereas the temperature dependence above 300 K is rather weak. The isotherms of composition dependence of the thermal expansion coefficient α L for 100, 293, 500 and 800 K were constructed, and it was found that linear relations could express them. The Debye temperatures θ D , the average mean‐square dynamic displacements $ \bar u ^2 $ , the average root‐mean‐square amplitudes of thermal vibration RMS , the anion position parameter u using S. C. Abrahams & J. L. Bernstein ( u AB ) and J. E. Jaffe & A. Zunger ( u JZ ) models were calculated. The composition dependence of microhardness H using the phenomenological theory was also calculated, and it was discovered that this dependence has a non‐linear character with a maximum of 383 kg/mm 2 at x=0.67. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)