Abstract
A simple charge compensation mechanism for the substitution of mixed valency ions in oxide crystals requires a fixed ratio of the substituents in the melt to obtain equal concentrations of the substituents in the solid, or balanced substitution.
A direct relationship between the melt concentration ratios and the deviation from balanced substitution has been deduced from the theory and shown to hold in practice for the substitution of chromium and lithium in zinc tungstate. This relationship permits the required ratio for balanced substitution to be obtained directly from limited experimental data.