Diagram of the crystal structure of antimony in the stable alpha phase. Credit: Franziska Zahn, University of Leipzig
A new study that provides unprecedented insight into the chemical bonding of antimony could have a major impact on materials research. The collaboration between scientists at the University of Leipzig, RWTH Aachen University and the DESY synchrotron in Hamburg combined experimental measurements and theoretical calculations.
This discovery will help scientists better understand phase-change materials and improve their applications, especially in data storage and thermoelectrics fields. The research is now published in the journal Advanced Materials.
This study combined experimental measurements and theoretical calculations with the aim of analyzing the nature and strength of antimony’s chemical bonds. “The strength of the bonds depends directly on the distance between the atoms,” said Professor Claudia S. Schnorr of the Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics at the University of Leipzig. The distance dependence has been shown to be important and is characteristic of the type of chemical bond.
Of particular note is the apparently smooth transition between classical covalent bonds and electron-rich polycentric bonds. Covalent bonds are found in semiconductors such as germanium, for example. “Our results show that antimony in the stable phase exhibits characteristics of both types of bonds,” said co-author Professor Oliver Oechler from the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and Crystallography at the University of Leipzig. .
This has important implications for understanding phase change materials used in applications such as data storage and thermoelectrics.
Antimony as a model phase change material
“We studied antimony as an elemental model system for phase-change materials. Antimony has a similar structure to germanium telluride, but it is made up of only one type of atom,” says Professor Schnorr. . These properties facilitate analysis and comparison with other materials to better understand bonding properties.
This discovery could potentially be used to optimize material properties. “In the future, it will be possible to tailor the design of new materials by determining force constants experimentally or theoretically,” says Schnorr.
Further information: Franziska Zahn et al, “Experimental and theoretical force constants as meaningful indicators of interatomic bonding properties and the specific case of elemental antimony,” Advanced Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202416320
Provided by University of Leipzig
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