Projection of the liquidus surface of the Ho-Bi-Te ternary system.

The Ho-Bi-Te ternary system was studied by DTA, X-ray diffraction, and MSA, as well as by measuring microhardness and determining density, congruent triangulation scheme and projection of the liquidus surface, types and coordinates of mono- and invariant equilibria. It is established that this system is triangulated into five pseudo-ternary systems. It was discovered that an incongruently melting ternary compound containing HoBiTe3 is formed in the Ho-Bi-Te ternary system. X-ray phase analysis established that the HoBiTe3 compound crystallises in a tetragonal system with lattice parameters: a = 19.99, с = 13.82 Å, Z = 3. Studying the nature of the interaction of the components of the quasi-binary section Bi2Te3-Ho2Te3 of the Ho-Bi-Te ternary system, as well as thermoelectric materials formed by combining Bi2Te3 with rare-earth tellurides, is of interest from a scientific and practical point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]