Communication

Sn₂B₅O₉Cl: A Material with Large Birefringence Enhancement Activated Prepared via Alkaline‐Earth‐Metal Substitution by Tin

CAS Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices for Special Environments, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry of CAS, Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Electronic Information Materials and Devices, 40-1 South Beijing Road, Urumqi, 830011 China

Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Abudukadi Tudi

Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Dr. Shujuan Han

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Prof. Zhihua Yang

Corresponding Author

E-mail address: zhyang@ms.xjb.ac.cn

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Prof. Shilie Pan

Corresponding Author

E-mail address: slpan@ms.xjb.ac.cn

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4521-4507

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Jingyu Guo

Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Abudukadi Tudi

Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Dr. Shujuan Han

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Prof. Zhihua Yang

Corresponding Author

E-mail address: zhyang@ms.xjb.ac.cn

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Prof. Shilie Pan

Corresponding Author

E-mail address: slpan@ms.xjb.ac.cn

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4521-4507

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First published: 17 September 2019

https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201911187

Citations: 10

Abstract

The excellent birefringent materials are needed for optical systems. Herein, we reported a new compound, the first tin borate chloride, Sn₂B₅O₉Cl (SBOC) with a large birefringence (0.168 at 546 nm) measured by the polarizing microscope. Its birefringence is 16 times that of the isostructural Ba₂B₅O₉Cl (BBOC) compound (0.010@ at 546 nm). The results show that the birefringence enhancement originates mainly from the Sn²⁺ polyhedra. We propose that the birefringence can be enlarged by substituting the alkaline‐earth metal cation by the Sn²⁺ cation in the isostructural borate with small birefringence. This strategy will guide the discovery of large birefringent materials in the future.