很多二元Cr-Te化合物具有NiAs结构，其中金属Cr原子出现不同程度的有序缺位。Cr₅Te₈有三方和单斜2种结构，本工作采用粉末X射线和中子衍射结合Rietveld全谱拟合，确定了用自助溶剂生长的三方Cr₅Te₈单晶具有P\overline{\mathrm{3}}m1晶体结构，点阵参数a = 0.3900 nm，c = 0.5986 nm。粉末中子衍射实验揭示Cr₅Te₈是磁矩沿c方向的共线铁磁化合物，a方向具有小的负热膨胀，c方向显示正常热膨胀。以最低温3.3 K为参考温度点，在3.3~300 K温度范围内，a方向平均热膨胀系数为-10.7 × 10^-6 K^-1，c方向平均膨胀系数为52.4 × 10^-6 K^-1。[101]、[302]和[201]取向的Cr₅Te₈具有近零热膨胀，具备应用前景。Cr₅Te₈的反常热膨胀与其磁有序没有明显关联，可能与晶格中存在大量的Cr空位有关。

Many binary Cr-Te compounds can be regarded as formed due to varying degrees of ordered vacancies of metal Cr atoms in Cr-Te with the NiAs structure. Among them, Cr₅Te₈ shows two structures: trigonal and monoclinic. This study determined that Cr₅Te₈ grown using the self-flux method shows a trigonal P\overline{\mathrm{3}}m1 crystal structure with lattice constants a = 0.3900 nm and c = 0.5986 nm, as elucidated through the Rietveld refinement of powder X-ray and neutron diffraction patterns. Neutron powder diffraction experiments reveal its collinear ferromagnetic compound, with Cr magnetic moments oriented along the c axis. In addition, it exhibits low negative thermal expansion along the a direction and normal thermal expansion along the c direction. Within the temperature range of 3.3-300 K, using the lowest temperature of 3.3 K as a reference, the average thermal expansion coefficient of Cr₅Te₈ is -10.7 × 10^-6 and 52.4 × 10^-6 K^-1 in the a and c directions, respectively. Cr₅Te₈ crystals oriented along the [101], [302], and [201] directions show near-zero thermal expansion and thus have wide application prospects. The abnormal thermal expansion of Cr₅Te₈ is apparently unrelated to its magnetic order but may be related to the Cr vacancies in the crystal lattice.