Local structural distortions in ordered and disordered phases of the solar absorber AgBiS2

This is a proposal to use neutron total scattering to definitively establish the local structures of the cubic (metal disordered) and trigonal layered (metal ordered) phases of AgBiS2. The aim is to gain understanding of the coordination environments of the Ag, Bi and sulfide ions and how they differ between the disordered cubic and ordered trigonal phases and aid correlation of the structures with physical properties. Bragg peaks are broad at high Q in the trigonal phase underlining the need to complement diffraction measurements with PDF analysis.