We report on the phase formation and the superconducting properties in the NbS2 system. Specifically, we have performed a series of standardized solid-state syntheses in this system, which allow us to establish a comprehensive synthesis map for the formation of the two polytypes 2H-NbS2 and 3R-NbS2, respectively. We show that the identification of two polytypes by means of X-ray diffraction is not always unambiguous. Our physical...

The initial definition of a crystal was that it is an object with flat faces. When diffraction studies were developed it turned out that crystal consists of a highly ordered particles and it is possible to isolate a small unique part of their structure - a unit cell - and the definition has been changed to rely on this fact. Nowadays by a crystal we mean any solid having an essentially discrete diffraction diagram. It is because...