| Abstract: | The crystal and electronic structure of several recently reported tellurium-rich alkali metal tellurides is discussed. Some of these materials contain defective square planar tellurium lattices, which on the basis of band structure calculations are expected to be new low-dimensional metals. The structural interrelations between some of these new phases can be understood once the primordial template role of the alkali metal as well as the secondary Te…Te interactions are considered. Tellurium-rich alkali metal tellurides seem to be promising materials in the search for new solids with interesting structural and electronic properties. |
