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"id": "811072288316194817",
"doi": "10.1107/s0108270189005913",
"publication_id": "13682",
"publication_name": "Acta Crystallographica Section C Crystal Structure Communications _ Acta Crystallogr C",
"zh_title": "含二价金属阳离子的 Chevrel 相中的结构相变。II. 低温下三斜晶系 EuMo₆S₈ 和 BaMo₆S₈ 的结构精修",
"en_title": "Structural phase transitions in Chevrel phases containing divalent metal cations. II. Structure refinement of triclinic EuMo6S8 and BaMo6S8 at low temperature",
"authors": "F. Kubel | K. Yvon",
"publication_date": "1990-2-15",
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"cover_date_start": "1990-02-15",
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"content": "In divalent-cation Chevrel phase sulfides $MMo_{6}S_{8}$ with $M = \\mathrm{Eu}$ or $\\mathrm{Ba}$, the low-temperature rhombohedral-to-triclinic phase transition had been recognized, but the triclinic structures themselves were not yet established by single-crystal refinement. At the time of this work, room-temperature rhombohedral parameters were available from earlier single-crystal and powder studies, whereas the low-temperature triclinic structures had only been reported from powder diffraction. That left the atomic-level geometry of the distorted $Mo_{6}$ clusters, the associated changes in $Mo$--$Mo$, $Mo$--$S$, $M$--$S$, and $S$--$S$ distances, and the magnitude of the lattice discontinuity at the transition insufficiently resolved. Because these compounds show structural phase transitions linked to electronic behavior, the lack of accurate low-temperature single-crystal data limited quantitative assessment of how small structural distortions relate to the transition, to the metallic-to-nonmetallic change in $\\mathrm{EuMo}_{6}S_{8}$, and to the structural mechanism possibly involved in pressure-induced superconductivity. The situation was further complicated by experimental difficulties at low temperature: some crystals split during the transition, and earlier powder measurements showed discrepancies that were plausibly caused by stoichiometric differences, leaving the true structural changes uncertain.",
"keywords": [
"Chevrel phase sulfides",
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"single-crystal refinement",
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"atomic-level bond changes"
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"content": "Several scientifically meaningful issues remain unresolved after these refinements. The low-temperature deformation interval appears broader in $\\mathrm{BaMo}_{6}S_{8}$ than in $\\mathrm{EuMo}_{6}S_{8}$, but the authors note that this comparison may not be genuine because the europium data come from a single crystal whereas the barium data come from powder measurements, so the relative breadth of the triclinic deformation as a function of temperature is not fully settled. The discrepancy between the present low-temperature lattice parameters and earlier powder-diffraction values for $\\mathrm{EuMo}_{6}S_{8}$ and $\\mathrm{BaMo}_{6}S_{8}$ is attributed to possible stoichiometric differences, but the paper does not determine the exact compositional origin of those differences. Attempts to refine the triclinic low-temperature structures of $\\mathrm{CaMo}_{6}S_{8}$ and $\\mathrm{SrMo}_{6}S_{8}$ failed because the crystals broke up during the phase transition, leaving the low-temperature structures of these related compounds unresolved. Finally, although the structural changes are argued to be sufficient to explain the electronic transition in $\\mathrm{EuMo}_{6}S_{8}$ and are likely connected to pressure-induced superconductivity, the paper does not provide a direct electronic-structure calculation or experimental proof of the superconducting mechanism under pressure."
}
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"content": "The relation between pressure, structural stability, and superconductivity in the europium compound remained unresolved because the low-temperature phase transition itself had to be characterized before any mechanism could be proposed. Earlier observations showed superconductivity under pressure, but the structural route by which pressure might favor that state was not established. A structural refinement that quantifies the low-temperature distortion was therefore needed to support an interpretation in which suppressing the transition enables superconductivity.",
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"title": "Literature-based inference linking superconductivity under pressure to suppressed transition",
"content": "Literature reports of superconductivity in EuMo6S8 under applied pressure (for example Chu et al., 1981; Harrison et al., 1981) together with the documented pressure dependence of the lattice-transformation temperature suggest that the emergence of superconductivity under pressure is likely associated with suppression of the rhombohedral-to-triclinic structural phase transition.",
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"narrative": "Conclusion 8 — that pressure-induced superconductivity in EuMo6S8 is likely connected to suppression of the structural transition — is explicitly speculative in the paper: it is consistent with the known pressure dependence of Tl and with literature reports of superconductivity (cited), but the authors present no direct high-pressure structural or concurrent transport data to establish causality (P7). Consequently the claim is a plausible conjecture meriting follow-up, not a conclusion established by the present refinements."
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"title": "Linking pressure-induced superconductivity to suppressed transition lacks direct evidence here",
"content": "The inference that superconductivity observed in EuMo6S8 under applied pressure is likely due to suppression of the rhombohedral-to-triclinic structural phase transition is based on the known pressure dependence of the lattice-transformation temperature and on literature reports of pressure-induced superconductivity, but this study does not present any pressure-dependent structural measurements (for example unit-cell parameters or phase identification under pressure) or concurrent electronic measurements that would directly demonstrate that suppression of the triclinic distortion produces the superconducting state.\n Chu, C. W. et al. (1981). Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 276-279.",
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"failure_mode": "If direct evidence that pressure suppresses the triclinic distortion prior to the onset of superconductivity is absent or the two phenomena are not causally linked in the present samples (i.e., the body claim fails), then conclusion 8 becomes speculative: the association between pressure-driven suppression of the transition and superconductivity would be an unproven hypothesis rather than a supported mechanism, reducing the conclusion to a plausible suggestion that requires dedicated high-pressure structural-electronic studies.",
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"text": "Chu, C. W. et al. (1981). Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 276-279.",
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"reasoning": "The structural transition in $\\mathrm{EuMo}_{6}S_{8}$ is the key low-temperature instability, and the refined structure shows that the low-temperature distortion is small enough to account for the electronic change. This establishes that suppression of the structural transition is a plausible way to alter the electronic state.",
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