Abstract
The nonstoichiometric chalcogenides with NaCl-type structure were prepared and the physical and structural properties were studied. The homogeneous range and the structural change were studied based on X-ray powder diffractions using Rietveld-type full-profile fitting technique. Wide homogeneous ranges were observed in Y-S and Y-Se systems, and relatively narrow homogeneous ranges were observed in Yb-S and Yb-Se systems. Both in $Yb_{1-x}S\;and\;Yb_{1-x}Se$, a vacancy ordering transition occurred in (111) plane direction. The ordered superstructure had cubic symmetry(Fm$\bar{3}m) with doubled unit cell "a" parameter compared to the original NaCl-type. The superlattice developed in a continuous second-order transitiion was characterized by the reduced waved vector k= $(a^*+b^*+c^*)/2$. Y-S system had metallic, and YSe, YbSe system had semiconducting properties in their homogeneous ranges. It was observed that the change of electronic transport properties in extended homogeneous range did not depend on the relativeratio of metal to nonmetal, but on the quantities of vacancies.