Influence of gamma nonstoichiometry on spinel inversion

The nonequivalence between the constituent oxides of spinels, or gamma nonstoichiometry, arising at high temperatures is examined. It is shown with reference to aluminum-magnesium, aluminum-nickel, and aluminum-zinc spinels that this process is accompanied by a redistribution of the positions occupied by cations in the lattice and partial inversion of the spinel, where the degree of inversion is dependent on the gamma-nonstoichiometry and temperature. Models are proposed for disordering and ordering in the spinel lattice with allowance for the specific arrangement of the spinel crystal.