Near-Zero Thermal Expansion and High Ultraviolet Transparency in a Borate Crystal of Zn<sub>4</sub> B<sub>6</sub> O<sub>13</sub>.

Jiang, Xingxing; Molokeev, Maxim S; Gong, Pifu; Yang, Yi; Wang, Wei; Wang, Shuaihua; Wu, Shaofan; Wang, Yingxia et al. · Adv Mater · 2016

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Intrinsic isotropic near-zero thermal expansion is discovered in borate crystal Zn<sub>4</sub> B<sub>6</sub> O<sub>13</sub> with high transparency in the ultraviolet region. First-principles calculations demonstrate that the very low thermal expansion originates mainly from the invariability of the solid [B<sub>24</sub> O<sub>48</sub> ] truncated octahedra that are fixed by the [Zn<sub>4</sub> O<sub>13</sub> ] clusters in the ZBO structure.