Redetermination of the cation distribution of spinel (MgAl2O4) by means of neutron diffraction

Abstract

The cation distribution of synthetic spinel powder of grain size ≤ 50 μ was redetermined by means of neutron diffraction experiments. The oxygen parameter found by Bacon (1952) has been confirmed, but, in contradiction to Bacon, the degree of inversion amounts to about 10 to 15 %, and depends upon the thermal history of the sample