Optics of Hexagonal Pyrrhotine (∼ Fe9S10)

Kurt von Gehlen and Horst Piller
Mineralogisches Institut, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
Laboratory of Microscopy, Firma Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany

Summary: Reflectivities of a series of oriented polished sections through a single crystal of pyrrhotine (Fe1−αS) from Trepča, Yugoslavia, were measured by means of a spectral photometer attached to a microscope. This pyrrhotine consists of two phases, namely intermediate pyrrhotine (∼ Fe9S10) and monoclinic pyrrhotine (∼ Fe7S8), which were probably formed by exsolution. The phase relations of pyrrhotine at low temperatures are discussed. Optical data are given for the intermediate pyrrhotine from 440 to 660 mµ. From the reflectivities measured in air and oil against a carborundum standard, values of n, k, and κ were calculated for ω and ε and represented in dispersion curves. Also, sections through the various ‘indicating surfaces’ at 546 mµ are shown. The accuracy of the values, which should be approximately the same for other pyrrhotine phases, is discussed.

Mineralogical Magazine; June 1965 v. 35; no. 270; p. 335-346; DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1965.035.270.07
© 1965, The Mineralogical Society
Mineralogical Society (www.minersoc.org)