Abstract

A series of new compounds has been synthesized by insertion of alkali or alkaline earth-metals in chalcopyrite, CuFeS2. Their crystal structures vary from layered arrangements of tetrahedra in a trigonal (LiCuFeS2, NaCuFeS2) or a tetragonal symmetry (KCuFeS2, CsCuFeS2), to three-dimensional cubic framework (Ba6Cu12Fe13S 27). Despite these differences, the synthesized compounds follow a common structural pattern: the sulfur and M atoms (M= Li, Na, K, Cs, or Ba) are ordered in a distorted face-centered-cubic lattice, where all tetrahedral holes surrounded by S atoms are occupied by the transition metal elements. The tetrahedral holes surrounded by both S atoms and at least one M element are empty. The band structures of these compounds are discussed in the framework of an extended H