Variable temperature structural study of bismuth lead vanadate, BiPb2VO6

Abstract

At room temperature, monoclinic BiPb₂VO₆ is a polar, noncentrosymmetric, second harmonic generation active material and its crystal structure is among the more complex to be solved ab initio from powder diffraction data. In its stability range, BiPb₂VO₆ also exists in a high symmetry, orthorhombic form. Both phases have been structurally characterized by a combination of X-ray and neutron diffraction data. Their mutual relationship, as well as that to the known compounds of the BiM₂AO₆ (M = Mg, Ca, Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb and A = P, V, As) family, has been established.