The crystal structure of Ni–Zn co-doped β boron, Ni0.18Zn1.21B34.94

Abstract The crystal structure of beta-rhombohedral boron co-doped with nickel and zinc was refined using a single crystal of the composition Ni 44.4 Zn 11.2 B 44.4 (in at.%) (space group, R 3 ¯ m , a  = 1.10182(2) nm, c  = 2.40534(5) nm, R F  = 0.040, residual electron density  − /A 3 ). The Ni/Zn ratio of 1:6.5 was determined by electron microprobe analysis. Zn atoms were found to partially occupy atomic sites that have been named E positions in earlier works. A 1 , D and D d positions are partially occupied with mixtures of zinc and nickel atoms (Ni:Zn = 15.5:84.5). Refinement in the space group R 3 was tried to allow for further ordering of the metal atoms but did not result in a better structure description.