Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.43, No.7, 2237-2239, 2004
Cooling of melts: Kinetic stabilization and polymorphic transitions in the KInSnSe4 system
Through a flame-melting/rapid-cooling process, metastable forms of solid state compounds can be discovered. We describe here an example where both slow and rapid crystallizations of a stoichiometric "KInSinSe(4)" melt give rise to kinetic forms of KInSnSe4. These forms (alpha- and beta-) convert to the thermodynamically stable gamma-form upon heating below the melting point.