LONG PERIOD SUPERSTRUCTURES RELATED TO PARTIAL ORDERING IN NI3+/-XTE2 AS STUDIED BY MEANS OF ELECTRON-DIFFRACTION

Different structures of the intermetallic compound Ni3±xTe2 are known. An electron microscopy study reveals the existence of a quasi‐continuous series of superstructures between the monoclinic low temperature phase and a new orthorhombic phase. A possible interpretation of this series is based on the concept of partially ordered intermediate phases. The most significant characteristic of these phases is the presence along the [h00]* row of a pair of irrational superlattice reflections shifting continuously in position as a function of the degree of order. The proposed model is based in agreement with the relative intensities of the superlattice reflections. Copyright © 1979 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA