Exploration of New Birefringent Crystals in Bismuth d0 Transition Metal Selenites

The first examples of bismuth fluoride selenites with d⁰-TM/Te^VI polyhedrons, namely, Bi₄TiO₂F₄(SeO₃)₄ ( 1 ), Bi₄NbO₃F₃(SeO₃)₄ ( 2 ), Bi₄TeO₄F₂(TeO₃)₂(SeO₃)₂ ( 3 ), Bi₂F₂(MoO₄)(SeO₃) ( 4 ) and Bi₂ZrO₂F₂(SeO₃)₂ ( 5 ) have been successfully synthesized under hydrothermal reactions by aliovalent substitution. The five new compounds feature three different types of structures. Compounds 1 – 3 , containing Ti^IV, Nb^V and Te^VI respectively, are isostructural, exhibiting a new 3D framework composed of a 3D bismuth oxyfluoride architecture, with intersecting tunnels occupied by d⁰-TM/Te^VI octahedrons and selenite/tellurite groups. Interestingly, compound Bi₄TeO₄F₂(TeO₃)₂(SeO₃)₂ ( 3 ) is the first structure containing Se^IV and mixed-valent Te^IV/Te^VI cations simultaneously. Compound 4 features a new 3D structure formed by a 3D bismuth oxyfluoride network with MoO₄ tetrahedrons and selenites groups imbedded in the 1D tunnels. Compound 5 displays a novel pillar-layered 3D open framework, consisting of 2D bismuth oxide layers bridged by the ZrO₂F₂(SeO₃)₂]^6? polyanions. Theoretical calculations revealed that the five compounds displayed very strong birefringence. The birefringence values of compounds 1 – 3 , especially, are above 0.19 at 1064 nm, which are larger than the mineral calcite. Based on the structure and property analysis, it was found that the asymmetric SeO₃ groups (and TeO₃ in compound 3 ) displayed the largest anisotropy, compared with the bismuth cations and the d⁰-TM/Te polyhedra, which is beneficial to the birefringence.