Charge ordering in Eu3S4 determined by the valence-difference contrast of synchrotron X-ray diffraction

Synchrotron X-ray diffraction study for single crystals of Eu₃S₄ has revealed that a Th₃P₄-type structure transforms to a charge-ordered one at T_c=188.5 K. The crystal structures of Eu₃S₄ at T=300, 180 and 160 K were determined in the least-squares refinements with the Mo K intensity data. The valence-difference contrast method was applied at the L_II absorption edge of Eu, utilizing a large difference in anomalous scattering factors between Eu²⁺ and Eu³⁺. The cation distribution of Eu²⁺ and Eu³⁺ was determined by crystal-structure analyses based on the intensity data collected at two wavelengths of λ=1.6312 and 1.6298 Å.The least-squares structural refinements suggest that the most plausible atomic arrangement is Eu³⁺]^4aEu²⁺Eu³⁺]^8dS₄. The charge-ordering scheme is that a half of Eu³⁺ ions occupy the whole 4a sites in the crystal structure, while the remaining half of Eu³⁺ ions mix with Eu²⁺ in the 8d sites. The scheme is also supported by the energy dependence of Bragg intensities for 400 and 004 reflections.