Structural behavior of the ferromagnetic spinels AlxMo2S4 and GaxMo2S4, containing tetrahedral clusters of molybdenum atoms

The structure of the ferromagnetic spinels Al_xMo₂S₄ and Ga_xMo₂S₄ (x ～ 0.5) was determined from powder diffraction data. The Al and Ga atoms order on the tetrahedral sites. The space group is $\text{F}\text{4}\text{3m; a = 9.726}$ Å for Al_xMo₂S₄ and 9.739 Å for Ga_xMo₂S₄. The Mo atoms were found to shift towards the tetrahedral site vacancies, created by the lower Al and Ga concentrations. This results in tetrahedral clusters of Mo around the vacancies. Their semiconducting and magnetic behavior was explained on the basis of the structural behavior of the molybdenum lattice in these spinel compounds.