Crystal growth and structure of MnGa2Te4

Single crystals of MnGa₂Te₄ were grown from the melt using the directional freezing technique. They crystallize in the monoclinic system, a=11.999(3), b=11.999(3), c=24.922(6) Å, β=104.01(2)°, Z=16 MnGa₂Te₄ units, space group C2/c. The structure was solved by direct methods and refined to R_w=0.035 for 791 observed reflections and to R_w=0.062 for 3067 independently measured reflections. Te atoms form an arrangement which is a superlattice of anion lattice of β-Cu₂HgI₄. On the contrary, the same model does not conform cation lattice, because 1/3 of metal atoms occupy positions displaced from tetrahedral sites.