Ce(IO 3 ) 3 F and Ce(IO 3 ) 2 (NO 3 ): Two Mixed-Anion Cerium Iodates with Good Nonlinear Optical and Birefringent Properties.

Two new mixed-anion cerium iodates, namely, Ce(IO 3 ) 3 F and Ce(IO 3 ) 2 (NO 3 ), have been rationally designed through the integration of hybrid anionic functional building blocks (FBBs). The structure of Ce(IO 3 ) 3 F features a novel [Ce(IO 3 ) 3 F] bilayer, and the material exhibits large birefringence (0.225 @546 nm). The structure of Ce(IO 3 ) 2 (NO 3 ) features [Ce 3 (IO 3 ) 6 ] 3+ triple layers that are further linked by planar NO 3 - units. Ce(IO 3 ) 2 (NO 3 ) shows a moderate SHG response (1 × KDP) and a high laser-induced damage threshold value (22 × AgGaS 2 ). This work demonstrates that the rich coordination geometries of cerium cations facilitate tuning of the structures of related compounds through modulating anionic FBBs.