Structure determination of a low temperature phase of calcium and strontium amide by means of neutron powder diffraction on Ca(ND₂)₂ and Sr(ND₂)₂

Calcium and Strontium amide are ionic compounds crystallising in a tetragonally distorted anatase structure-type at ambient temperatures. The amide ions (NH27 ND₂^-) resemble water molecules in structure and in charge distribution. By means of temperature dependent neutron diffraction investigations weak super-structure reflections were observed at temperatures below 90 K (Ca(ND₂)₂) and 60 K (Sr(ND₂)₂), respectively, indicating the existence of a so far unknown low-temperature (LT) phase. Using high resolution neutron powder diffraction at temperatures below 10 K the structure was determined for both compounds. The LT-phases are isotypic and crystallise monoclinic in the space group P2₁/c with four formula units within the unit cell: Ca(ND₂)₂ at 10 K a = 7.257(2) Å, b = 7.2434(2) Å, c = 6.300(1) Å, β = 124.73(1)^o Sr(ND₂)₂ at 5 K a = 7.6950(1) Å, b = 7.68374(9) Å, c = 6.6324(3) Å, β = 124.917(2)^o. Their structure is closely related to the tetragonal HT-phase, but an ordering of the amide ions occurs due to freezing of a lattice mode which is dominated by the librational motion of the amide ions in the {1 0 0} planes of the HT-phase.