The six independent elastic constants of single crystals of tetragonal MgF2 have been measured over the temperature range 4.2–300 K. All six of the conventional constants show normal negative temperature dependences. The shear constants associated with normal modes of deformation tend to be weak, and one of these, (1)/(2) (C11−C12), also exhibits a weak positive temperature dependence as do all other fluorides with the rutile structure for which data are available. The data indicate a high degree of anisotropy in the atomic force interactions. A Debye temperature evaluated from the single-crystal elastic constants when combined with two empirical Einstein temperatures satisfactorily describes tabulated heat-capacity data to within 1%.
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