Consider the zinc blende structure in Figure 12.16. What type of structure would result if the remaining tetrahedral sites in the unit cell were also filled with cations?

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the zinc blende structure: The zinc blende (ZnS) structure is a type of face-centered cubic (fcc) lattice where the anions (S) form the fcc lattice and the cations (Zn) occupy half of the tetrahedral sites.
2. Understand the tetrahedral sites: In a face-centered cubic lattice, there are eight tetrahedral sites per unit cell. In the zinc blende structure, only half of these sites are occupied by cations.
3. Consider filling all tetrahedral sites: If all tetrahedral sites in the unit cell are filled with cations, this means that instead of having only half of the tetrahedral sites occupied, all eight sites will be occupied.
4. Determine the resulting structure: When all tetrahedral sites are filled, the structure becomes similar to the antifluorite structure, where the cations fully occupy the tetrahedral sites in an anion fcc lattice.
5. Conclude the type of structure: The resulting structure, with all tetrahedral sites filled with cations, is analogous to the antifluorite structure, which is the inverse of the fluorite structure where anions occupy the tetrahedral sites in a cation fcc lattice.