Platinum silicide

Platinum silicide, also known as platinum monosilicide, is the inorganic compound with the formula PtSi and forms an orthorhombic crystalline structure when synthesized.

Structure and Bonding

The crystal structure of PtSi is orthorhombic, with each silicon atom having six neighboring platinum atoms. The distances between the silicon and the platinum neighbors are as follow: one at a distance of 2.41 angstroms, two at a distance of 2.43 angstroms, one at a distance of 2.52 angstroms, and the final two at a distance of 2.64 angstroms. Each platinum atom has six silicon neighbors at the same distances, as well as two platinum neighbors, at a distance of 2.87 and 2.90 angstroms. All of the distances over 2.50 angstroms are considered too far to really be involved in bonding interactions of the compound. As a result, it has been shown that two sets of covalent bonds compose the bonds forming the compound. One set is the three center Pt-Si-Pt bond, and the other set the two center Pt-Si bonds. Each silicon atom in the compound has one three center bond and two two center bonds. The thinnest film of PtSi would consist of two alternating planes of atoms, a single sheet of orthorhombic structures. Thicker layers are formed by stacking pairs of the alternating sheets. The mechanism of bonding between PtSi is more similar to that of pure silicon than pure platinum or Pt2Si, though experimentation has revealed metallic bonding character in PtSi that pure silicon lacks.

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