DOE OSTI2020
BaCaI4 crystallizes in the monoclinic C2/m space group. The structure is three-dimensional. there are two inequivalent Ba2+ sites. In the first Ba2+ site, Ba2+ is bonded to six I1- atoms to form distorted BaI6 octahedra that share corners with four CaI6 octahedra, edges with two equivalent BaI6 octahedra, and edges with three CaI6 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 11–24°. There are a spread of Ba–I bond distances ranging from 3.31–3.65 Å. In the second Ba2+ site, Ba2+ is bonded to six I1- atoms to form distorted BaI6 octahedra that share corners with four CaI6 octahedra, edges with two equivalent CaI6 octahedra, and edges with three BaI6 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 10–21°. There are a spread of Ba–I bond distances ranging from 3.30–3.62 Å. There are two inequivalent Ca2+ sites. In the first Ca2+ site, Ca2+ is bonded to six I1- atoms to form CaI6 octahedra that share corners with four BaI6 octahedra, edges with two equivalent CaI6 octahedra, and edges with three BaI6 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 10–24°. There are a spread of Ca–I bond distances ranging from 2.99–3.30 Å. In the second Ca2+ site, Ca2+ is bonded to six I1- atoms to form CaI6 octahedra that share corners with four BaI6 octahedra, edges with two equivalent BaI6 octahedra, and edges with three CaI6 octahedra. The corner-sharing octahedra tilt angles range from 11–21°. There are a spread of Ca–I bond distances ranging from 2.99–3.32 Å. There are five inequivalent I1- sites. In the first I1- site, I1- is bonded in a linear geometry to one Ba2+ and one Ca2+ atom. In the second I1- site, I1- is bonded in a linear geometry to one Ba2+ and one Ca2+ atom. In the third I1- site, I1- is bonded in a distorted see-saw-like geometry to one Ba2+ and three Ca2+ atoms. In the fourth I1- site, I1- is bonded in a distorted see-saw-like geometry to three Ba2+ and one Ca2+ atom. In the fifth I1- site, I1- is bonded in a distorted see-saw-like geometry to two Ba2+ and two Ca2+ atoms.