Monoclinic superstructure V14O6 of the tetragonal solid solution of oxygen in vanadium

The monoclinic (space group C2/m) superstructure of V₁₄O₆, which is formed in the atom-vacancy ordering of the tetragonal solid solution of oxygen in vanadium, is studied by the methods of x-ray diffraction and symmetry analysis. It has been found that the channel of the order-disorder phase transition attributed to the formation of the monoclinic suboxide V₁₄O₆ includes six superstructure vectors belonging to three non-Lifshitz stars {k ₁₋₁}, {k ₁₋₂}, and {k _1–3} of one type {k ₁}. The distribution function of the O atoms in the V₁₄O₆ monoclinic superstructure has been calculated. It has been shown that the displacements of V atoms distort the body-centered tetragonal metal sublattice, thus preparing the formation of the fcc sublattice and the transition from the suboxide V₁₄O₆ to the cubic vanadium monoxide with the B1 structure. Original Russian Text ? A.I. Gusev, D.A. Davydov, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 10, pp. 746–751.