DOE OSTI2020
Ir3Cr crystallizes in the trigonal R-3m space group. The structure is three-dimensional. Cr is bonded to six equivalent Ir atoms to form distorted CrIr6 cuboctahedra that share corners with six equivalent IrIr12 cuboctahedra, edges with six equivalent CrIr6 cuboctahedra, and edges with six equivalent IrIr12 cuboctahedra. All Cr–Ir bond lengths are 2.60 Å. There are five inequivalent Ir sites. In the first Ir site, Ir is bonded to three equivalent Cr and three equivalent Ir atoms to form a mixture of distorted corner and edge-sharing IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra. All Ir–Ir bond lengths are 2.80 Å. In the second Ir site, Ir is bonded to twelve Ir atoms to form IrIr12 cuboctahedra that share corners with six equivalent CrIr6 cuboctahedra, corners with eighteen IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra, edges with six equivalent CrIr6 cuboctahedra, edges with eighteen IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra, and faces with six equivalent IrIr12 cuboctahedra. All Ir–Ir bond lengths are 2.71 Å. In the third Ir site, Ir is bonded to three equivalent Cr and three equivalent Ir atoms to form distorted IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra that share corners with fourteen IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra, edges with twenty IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra, and faces with two equivalent IrIr16 cuboctahedra. All Ir–Cr bond lengths are 2.60 Å. All Ir–Ir bond lengths are 2.80 Å. In the fourth Ir site, Ir is bonded to sixteen Ir atoms to form IrIr16 cuboctahedra that share corners with six equivalent CrIr6 cuboctahedra, corners with twenty-two IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra, edges with six equivalent CrIr6 cuboctahedra, edges with twenty-six IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra, and faces with twenty IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra. There are a spread of Ir–Ir bond distances ranging from 2.71–5.41 Å. In the fifth Ir site, Ir is bonded to three equivalent Cr and three equivalent Ir atoms to form distorted IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra that share corners with fourteen IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra, edges with twenty IrCr3Ir3 cuboctahedra, and faces with two equivalent IrIr16 cuboctahedra. All Ir–Cr bond lengths are 2.60 Å.