The crystal structure of lueshite at 298 K resolved by high-resolution time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction

Refinement of time-of-flight high-resolution neutron powder diffraction data for lueshite (Na, Ca)(Nb, Ta, Ti)O3, the natural analogue of synthetic NaNbO3, demonstrates that lueshite at room temperature (298 K) adopts an orthorhombic structure with a 2ap × 2ap × 4ap superlattice described by space group Pmmn [#59: a = 7.8032(4) Å; b = 7.8193(4) Å; c = 15.6156(9) Å]. This structure is analogous to that of phase S of synthetic NaNbO3 observed at 753–783 K (480–510 °C). In common with synthetic NaNbO3, lueshite exhibits a series of phase transitions with decreasing temperature from a cubic (Pm3¯m\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$Pm\bar{3}m$$\end{document}) aristotype through tetragonal (P4/mbm) and orthorhombic (Cmcm) structures. However, the further sequence of phase transitions differs in that for lueshite the series terminates with the room temperature S (Pmmn) phase, and the R (Pmmn or Pnma) and P (Pbcm) phases of NaNbO3 are not observed. The appearance of the S phase in lueshite at a lower temperature, relative to that of NaNbO3, is attributable to the effects of solid solution of Ti, Ta and Ca in lueshite.