Structure and dynamical properties of liquid In2Te3

Abstract Liquid In–Te has a compound-forming behavior around the In 2 Te 3 composition. The large temperature dependences of many physical properties at this composition are strongly related to structural changes in this liquid. Energy dispersive X-ray diffraction measurements were carried out to study the change of the local structure in liquid In 2 Te 3 with temperature over a wide temperature range up to 1200 °C. The observed total structure factor, S ( Q ), shows a distinct second peak around 3.05 A −1 at lower temperatures and, with increasing temperature, this peak decreases, becoming a small shoulder at the highest temperature. The neutron diffraction spectra for liquid In 2 Te 3 was also measured at 750 °C and a similar profile for S ( Q ) to the X-ray results was obtained. The formation of triangular-pyramidal units just above the melting point and the appearance of chain like molecules in the high temperature liquid are proposed, along with a bond fluctuation model.