Crystallographic study of a family of Cs2BX4compounds

Abstract Five compounds of the Cs2BX4 family with B = Zn, Co, Cu and X = Cl, Br were grown and studied. They belong to Pnma space group with 4 formula units per cell. From the full determination of the structure it appears that the ZnX4 tetrahedra are almost regular while the CuX4 tetrahedra are strongly distorted. This seems to be due to a strong Jahn-Teller effect induced by the Cu ions. This remark is extended to other compounds of the general family A2BX4.