Negative thermal expansion and photoluminescence in solid solution (HfSc)_0.83W_2.25P_0.83O_12δ

A solid solution of (HfSc)_0.83W_2.25P_0.83O_12-δ is synthesized by the high-temperature, solid-state reaction and fast-quenching method. It is shown that it possesses an orthorhombic structure with space group Pmmm (47) and exhibits negative thermal expansion (NTE) property with low anisotropy in thermal expansion. The coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) for a, b, and c axes are -1.41×10^-6 K^-1, -2.23×10^-6 K^-1, and -1.87×10^-6 K^-1, respectively. This gives rise to volume and linear CTEs of -3.10×10^-6 K^-1 and -1.03×10^-6 K^-1, respectively. Besides, it exhibits also intense photoluminescence from 360 nm to about 600 nm. The mechanism of NTE and the correlation of the PL with axial thermal expansion property are discussed.