Solid solutions Ca
3-xSr
x(
PO
4)
2 (0
x 16/7) were studied by X-ray
powder diffraction,infrared s
pectrosco
py, differential scanning calorimetry, electrical-conductivity measurements, and second-harmonic generation. Phos
phates with 0
x 12/7 (
-
phase) crystallizein s
pace grou
p R3
c,
Z = 21,
a p.gif"> 10 Å, and
c p.gif"> 38 Å. Sr-rich
phos
phates with 13/7
x 16/7(
'-
phase) have a somewhat different crystal structure: s
pace grou
p Rm,
Z = 10.5,
a p.gif"> 10Å, and
c p.gif"> 19 Å. The solid solutions with 0
x 12/7 showed a reversible high-tem
perature
phase transition
', where the
and
'
phases have noncentrosymmetric andcentosymmetric structures, res
pectively. The tem
perature of the
phase transition decreasedwith increasing Sr content. In Ca
3(PO
4)
2, a new
phase transition,
', was observed at920
C in the electrical-conductivity measurements. The structure
parameters of
polar
-Ca
2Sr(PO
4)
2 (
x = 1) and centrosymmetric
'-Ca
5/7Sr
16/7(PO
4)
2 (
x = 16/7) at room tem
peraturewere refined by Rietveld refinements of the X-ray diffraction data: s
pace grou
p R3
c,
Z =21,
a = 10.5612(2) Å, and
c = 38.0588(5) Å for
-Ca
2Sr(PO
4)
2 and s
pace grou
p Rm,
Z =10.5,
a = 10.7015(2) Å, and
c = 19.5787(2) Å for
'-Ca
5/7Sr
16/7(PO
4)
2.
-Ca
2Sr(PO
4)
2 is isoty
picwith
-Ca
3(PO
4)
2. In
-Ca
2Sr(PO
4)
2, the M4 site is 50% occu
pied by Sr
2+ ions, and the M6site is vacant. In both structures, Ca
2+ and Sr
2+ ions enter the M1-M3 sites whereas Ca
2+ions selectively occu
py the M5 site.
'-Ca
5/7Sr
16/7(PO
4)
2 contains some disordered atoms: (1)cations at the M3 site are statistically distributed among several
positions near the centerof symmetry, (2) P1O
4 tetrahedra are orientationally disordered, and (3) the M4 site (M6site in
-Ca
2Sr(PO
4)
2) is occu
pied by 0.165Sr
2+ + 0.085Ca
2+ + 0.75
. The mechanism of the
'
phase transition in Ca
3-xSr
x(PO
4)
2 (0
x 12/7) is discussed on the basis of thecrystal data.