Crystal chemistry, synthesis, and characterization of infrared optical materials

Non-oxide inorganic compounds such as sulfides, phosphides, and mixed-anion sulfide-phosphides are of interest as possible infrared window materials. Our research on the solid state chemistry and structure-property relationships of these materials includes the directed synthesis of new compounds as well as the study of compounds that have been reported in the literature but which have been incompletely characterized for this application. The present work includes investigations of three ternary sulfide systems: ZnGa2S4, AIn2S4(A = Ca, Sr, Ba), and CaY2S4. Samples were prepared in polycrystalline form and/or as crystals. New compounds were obtained in our studies of the CaIn2S4, SrIn2S4, and CaY2S4 systems. Compounds were characterized by X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared Radiometry, and thermogravimetric analysis.