This research is concerned with the synthesis and characterization of solid-states, transition-metal compound having S, Se, or Te. The ultimate goal is to make the chemistry of solid-state material more predictable. The chemistry of the proposed compounds is fundamentally different from that of the oxides. Characterization of the new materials will involve structure determination by single-crystal x-ray method, measurement of transport properties such as electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility, and approximate electronic calculation for simple structures. Three major areas are studied: 1) oxyselenides and oxysulfides, 2) Nb or Ta/ transition metal/Te systems, and the reactive flux technique for the synthesis of new ternary and quaternary solid-state compound.
