Alkaline-earth-rare-earth silicate and germanate apatites

Summary A number of new alkaline-earth-rare-earth silicate and germanate compounds with the apatite-type structure have been synthesized including a new calcium lanthanum silicate, Ca4La6(SiO4)6(OH)2, which has a 9·63 Å, c 7·12, and c/a 0·740. This has a random distribution of Ca2+ and La3+ over the (4f) and (6h) sites in the lattice. X-ray data are given for Ca4La6(SiO4)6(OH)2 together with cell dimensions for other synthetic silicate and germanate apatites. Silicate apatites with partially occupied or vacant halogen (2a) sites analogous to those of the pyro- morphites have been prepared, and a classification for silicate apatites based on synthetic end-members is proposed.