We
report the synthesis and characterization of five new honeycomb tellurates
with the PbSb2O6 structure type. These materials,
SrM2/3Te4/3O6 (M = Cr, Mn, Fe) and
SrM1/2Te3/2O6 (M = Co, Ni), are prepared
by conventional solid state synthesis. Rietveld refinements of powder
X-ray and neutron diffraction data reveal that these materials crystallize
in the P3̅1m space group,
in which M and Te are octahedrally coordinated and randomly distributed
over the honeycomb sublattice. In three of these materials (M = Cr,
Mn, Fe), the transition metal takes a 3+ oxidation state, and hence,
charge neutrality necessitates that the honeycomb sublattice is 66%
occupied by nonmagnetic Te. In the remaining two of these materials
(M = Co, Ni), the transition metal takes a 2+ oxidation state, requiring
that 75% of the honeycomb lattice is occupied by nonmagnetic Te. Thus,
the honeycomb sublattice is highly diluted, as only 33% or 25% of
the sites are occupied by a magnetic ion. These occupation values
fall well-below the percolation threshold for the honeycomb lattice, p
c
= 70%. Accordingly, magnetic
susceptibility measurements reveal no magnetic order or spin freezing
down to 1.8 K.