Structural, Thermal, Optical, and Photoacoustic Study of Mechanically Alloyed Nanocrystalline SnTe

Part of the as-milled powder was annealed and its X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern was recorded. The XRD patterns of the as-milled and annealed samples were refined using the Rietveld method.

After annealing, partial decomposition of the SnTe phase was observed and corroborated by estimating the mean crystallite size using a Willianson-Hall plot. The Cowley-Warren parameter α SnTe CWfor the first coordination shell was calculated, showing a preference for homopolar pairs. This preference is consistent with the partial decomposition observed.