The effect of valence electron concentration ͑VEC͒ and size of the X element in XMgB 14 ͑space group Imma X = Al, C, Si, Ge, Mg, Sc, Ti, V, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta͒ on stability and elastic properties was studied using ab initio calculations. Generally, icosahedral bonds, present in these compounds, are electron deficient. Based on the Bader charge analysis ͓Bader, Atoms in Molecules: A Quantum Theory ͑Oxford University Press, New York, 1990͔͒ and density of states, X elements and Mg are shown here to transfer electrons to the boron network. Hence, the stability of the compounds studied increases as more electrons are transferred. As the VEC of the X element increases, fewer electrons are transferred to the boron network, and therefore the phase stability decreases. The bulk moduli of all compounds are in the range from 205 to 220 GPa. This can be understood analyzing the cohesive energy thereof. As the bulk modulus increases, the cohesive energy decreases.

AlYB(14) (Imma) thin films were synthesized by magnetron sputtering. On the basis of x-ray diffraction, no phases other than crystalline AlYB(14) could be identified. According to electron probe microanalysis, energy dispersive x-ray analysis and elastic recoil detection analysis, the Al and Y occupancies vary in the range of 0.73-1.0 and 0.29-0.45, respectively. Density functional theory based calculations were carried out to investigate the effect of occupancy on the stability of Al(x)Y(y)B(14) (x,y = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1). The mean effective charge per icosahedron and the bulk moduli were also calculated. It is shown that the most stable configuration is Al(0.5)YB(14), corresponding to a charge transfer of two electrons from the metal atoms to the boron icosahedra. Furthermore, it is found that the stability of a configuration is increased as the charge is homogeneously distributed within the icosahedra. The bulk moduli for all configurations investigated are in the range between 196 and 220 GPa, rather close to those for known hard phases such as α- Al(2)O(3).

The influence of Si and N in Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) (space group [Formula: see text]) on structure and phase stability thereof was studied experimentally by thin film growth and characterization as well as theoretically by ab initio calculations. It was found that Si and N most probably accumulate in the amorphous matrix embedding Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) grains. The incorporation of Si and N in these samples causes an increase of the crystallization temperature and the formation of finer grains. N is more efficient in increasing the crystallization temperature and in reducing the grain size than Si which can be understood based on the bonding analysis. The incorporation of both Si and N in Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) is energetically unfavourable, leading to finer grains and larger crystallization temperatures. While in the case of Si additions no significant changes in bonding are observed, N additions appear to enable the formation of strong Te-N bonds in the amorphous matrix, which are shown to be almost twice as strong as the strongest bonds in unalloyed Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5).

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