A new transition metal diphosphide α-MoP2 synthesized by a high-temperature and high-pressure technique

Monoclinic $\alpha $-MoP$_{2}$, with the OsGe$_{2}$-type structure (space group $C2/m$, $Z = 4$) and lattice parameters $a = 8.7248(11) $ Å, $b = 3.2322(4) $ Å, $c = 7.4724(9) $ Å, and $\beta =119.263^\circ $, was synthesized under a pressure of 4 GPa at a temperature between 1100 ${^\circ}$C and 1200 ${^\circ}$C. The structure of $\alpha $-MoP$_{2}$ and its relationship to other transition metal diphosphides are discussed. Surprisingly, the ambient pressure phase orthorhombic $\beta $-MoP$_{2}$ (space group Cmc2$_{1}$) is denser in structure than $\alpha $-MoP$_{2}$. Room-temperature high-pressure x-ray diffraction studies exclude the possibility of phase transition from $\beta $-MoP$_{2}$ to $\alpha $-MoP$_{2}$, suggesting that $\alpha $-MoP$_{2}$ is a stable phase at ambient conditions; this is also supported by the total energy and phonon calculations.     

Synthesis and photoluminescence property of boron carbide nanowires

Large scale, high density boron carbide nanowires have been synthesized by using an improved carbothermal reduction method with B/B203/C powder precursors under an argon flow at 1100℃. The boron carbide nanowires are 5-10 μm in length and 80-100 nm in diameter. Transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and selected area electron diffraction （SAED） characterizations show that the boron carbide nanowire has a B4C rhombohedral structure with good crystallization. The Raman spectrum of the as-grown boron carbide nanowires is consistent with that of a B4C structure consisting of B11C icosahedra and C-B-C chains. The room temperature photoluminescence spectrum of the boron carbide nanowires exhibits a visible range of emission centred at 638 nm.     

Structure of boron carbide after applying shear deformations under a pressure to 55 GPa

Transmission electron microscopy has been used to study the structural features of boron carbide treated in a high-pressure shear chamber with diamond anvils in the pressure range 25–55 GPa. Such a treatment has been shown to lead to the predominant crack formation along planes {10 11 } and {10 12} and also the formation of polytypes in the {10 11} planes and strain bands in the {10 12} planes.     

Superconductivity in the doped topological insulator Cu{x}Bi{2}Se{3} under high pressure

We report a high-pressure single crystal study of the topological superconductor Cu{x}Bi{2}Se{3}. Resistivity measurements under pressure show superconductivity is depressed smoothly. At the same time the metallic behavior is gradually lost. The upper-critical field data B{c2}(T) under pressure collapse onto a universal curve. The absence of Pauli limiting and the comparison of B{c2}(T) to a polar-state function point to spin-triplet superconductivity, but an anisotropic spin-singlet state cannot be discarded completely.     

Structural evolution and molecular dissociation of H2S under high pressures

Solid H$_{2}$S as the precursor for H$_{3}$S with incredible superconducting properties under high pressure, has recently attracted extensive attention. Here in this work, we propose two new phases of H$_{2}$S with $P$4$_{2}/n$ and $I$4$_{1}/a$ lattice symmetries in a pressure range of 0 GPa-30 GPa through first-principles structural searches, which complement the phase transition sequence. Further an $ab initio$ molecular dynamics simulation confirms that the molecular phase $P2/c$ of H$_{2}$S is gradually dissociated with the pressure increasing and reconstructs into a new $P$2$_{1}/m$ structure at 160 GPa, exhibiting the superconductivity with $T_{\rm c}$ of 82.5 K. Our results may provide a guidance for the theoretical study of low-temperature superconducting phase of H$_{2}$S.     

高温高压下掺硼宝石级金刚石单晶生长特性的研究

本文在5.1—5.6 GPa,1230—1600℃的压力、温度条件下,以FeNiMnCo作为触媒,进行单质硼添加宝石级金刚石单晶的生长研究.借助于有限元法,对触媒内的温度场进行模拟.研究得到了FeNiMnCo-C-B体系下,金刚石单晶生长的P-T相图.该体系下合成金刚石单晶的最低压力、温度条件分别为5.1 GPa,1230℃左右.研究发现,在单晶同一{111}扇区内部,硼元素呈内多外少的分布规律.有限元模拟结果给出,该分布规律是由在晶体生长过程中,{111}扇区的增长速度逐渐减小所致.{111}晶向的晶体生长实验结果表明,硼元素优先从{111}次扇区进入晶体.研究发现,这是该扇区增长速度相对较快,硼元素扩散逃离可用时间短导致的.另外,同磨料级掺硼金刚石单晶生长相比,对于温度梯度法生长掺硼宝石级金刚石单晶,由于晶体的增厚速度较慢,即使硼添加量相对较高,也可以实现表面无凹坑缺陷的优质金刚石单晶的生长.     

High-pressure study of topological semimetals XCd2Sb2 (X = Eu and Yb)

Topological materials have aroused great interest in recent years, especially when magnetism is involved. Pressure can effectively tune the topological states and possibly induce superconductivity. Here we report the high-pressure study of topological semimetals $X$Cd$_{2}$Sb$_{2}$ ($X = {\rm Eu} $ and Yb), which have the same crystal structure. In antiferromagnetic (AFM) Weyl semimetal EuCd$_{2}$Sb$_{2}$, the Néel temperature (${T}_{\rm N}$) increases from 7.4 K at ambient pressure to 50.9 K at 14.9 GPa. When pressure is above 14.9 GPa, the AFM peak of resistance disappears, indicating a non-magnetic state. In paramagnetic Dirac semimetal candidate YbCd$_{2}$Sb$_{2}$, pressure-induced superconductivity appears at 1.94 GPa, then ${ T}_{\rm c}$ reaches to a maximum of 1.67 K at 5.22 GPa and drops to zero at about 30 GPa, displaying a dome-shaped temperature-pressure phase diagram. High-pressure x-ray diffraction measurement demonstrates that a crystalline-to-amorphous phase transition occurs at about 16 GPa in YbCd$_{2}$Sb$_{2}$, revealing the robustness of pressure-induced superconductivity against structural instability. Similar structural phase transition may also occur in EuCd$_{2}$Sb$_{2}$, causing the disappearance of magnetism. Our results show that $X$Cd$_{2}$Sb$_{2}$ ($X = {\rm Eu}$ and Yb) is a novel platform for exploring the interplay among magnetism, topology, and superconductivity.     

Evolution of superconductivity and charge order in pressurized RbV3Sb5

The kagome metals AV₃Sb₅(A=K,Rb,Cs)under ambient pressure exhibit an unusual charge order,from which superconductivity emerges.In this work,by applying hydrostatic pressure using a liquid pressure medium and carrying out electrical resistance measurements for RbV₃Sb₅,we find that the charge order becomes suppressed under a modest pressure pc(1.4 GPa3Sb₅.Our findings point to qualitatively similar temperature-pressure phase diagrams in KV₃Sb₅ and RbV₃Sb₅,{and suggest a close link}between the second superconducting dome and the high-pressure resistance anomalies.     

High-Pressure Synthesis of SeCu 1− x Zn x O 3 Perovskites

The SeCu 1 m x Zn x O 3 solid solution, with a distorted perovskite-type structure, has been synthesized under high pressures and temperatures. X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that the zinc ions occupy the copper sites, a solid solution being formed. It seems that high-pressure stabilises a small cation such as Se 4+ in the A site of the perovskite structure ABO 3 although the material is better described as formed by selenite anions \rm{SeO}_{3}^{-} and Cu 2+ /Zn 2+ cations.     

First-principles calculations for elastic properties of rutile TiO2 under pressure

This paper studies the equilibrium structure parameters and the dependences of the elastic properties on pressure for rutile TiO2 by using the Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package （CASTEP） program in the frame of density functional theory. The obtained equilibrium structure parameters, bulk modulus B0 and its pressure derivative B′0 are in good agreement with experiments and the theoretical results. The six independent elastic constants of rutile TiO2 under pressure are theoretically investigated for the first time. It is found that, as pressure increases, the elastic constants C11, C33, C66, C12 and C13 increase, The variation of elastic constant C44 is not obvious and the anisotropy will weaken.     

Condensed matter chemistry under ‘extreme’ high pressure–high temperature conditions

Improved techniques for high-pressure experiments have led to new studies of the structure and physical properties of materials compressed to extremely high densities. Now we must fully enable the field of condensed matter chemistry under extreme high-pressure conditions. This will require development of strategies for the analysis and control of the chemical composition during reactions between solid, liquid and fluid phases. Such approaches already exist within the fields of experimental geochemistry and petrology, and they can be readily adapted to the wider area of chemistry. The first consideration is the manipulation and determination of stable and metastable pressure–temperature phase diagrams, illustrated here for the one-component system Si. Next, relationships between P, T and the chemical composition, X, expressed in terms of the chemical potential (μ) or the activity–composition relations, can be used to constrain and determine components within the system. This is illustrated by examples drawn from our recent work on high-pressure syntheses of boron suboxides (B₆O_1???δ) and (Si, Ge)₃N₄ nitride spinels.     

High-pressure Raman study of osmium and rhenium up to 200 GPa and pressure dependent elastic shear modulus C44

High-pressure Raman scattering from hexagonal close-packed (HCP) metals Os and Re have been extended up to 200 GPa, and the pressure-dependent shear modulus C₄₄ has been deduced from the Raman-active mode E_2g, which is generated from the adjacent vibration of atoms in hexagonal planes, providing the valuable information about the elastic properties for HCP metals under high pressure. Combined with the available data of HCP metals from previous works, a further study indicates that the $C_{44}^\prime/C_{44}$ ratio would be close to a constant value, 0.01, with increasing atomic number of metals. The results obtained from high-pressure Raman scattering will allow us to probe the elastic anisotropy of the HCP metals at very high pressure.     

Accurate theoretical evaluation of strain energy of all-carboatomic ring (cyclo[2n]carbon), boron nitride ring,and cyclic polyacetylene

Cyclocarbon fully consists of sp-hybridized carbon atoms, which shows quite unusual electronic and geometric structures compared to common molecules. In this work, we systematically studied strain energy (SE) of cyclocarbons of different sizes using regression analysis method based on electronic energies evaluated at the very accurate DLPNO-CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ theoretical level. In addition, ring strain of two systems closely related to cyclocarbon, boron nitride (BN) ring, and cyclic polyacetylene (c-PA), is also explored. Very ideal relationships between SE and number of repeat units ($n)$ are built for cyclo[2$n$]carbon, B$_{n}$N$_{n}$, and [2$n$]c-PA as ${\rm SE} = 555.0\cdot n^{-1}$, 145.1$\cdot n^{-1}$, and 629.8$\cdot n^{-1}$ kcal$\cdot $mol$^{-1}$, respectively, and the underlying reasons of the difference and similarity in their SEs are discussed from electronic structure perspective. In addition, force constant of harmonic potential of C-C-C angles in cyclocarbon is derived based on SE values, the result is found to be 56.23 kcal$\cdot $mol$^{-1}\cdot $rad$^{-2}$. The possibility of constructing homodesmotic reactions to calculate SEs of cyclocarbons is also explored in this work, although this method is far less rigorous than the regression analysis method, its result is qualitatively correct and has the advantage of much lower computational cost. In addition, comparisons show that $\omega $B97XD/def2-TZVP is a good inexpensive alternative to the DLPNO-CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ for evaluating energies used in deriving SE, while the popular and very cheap B3LYP/6-31G(d) level should be used with caution for systems with global electron conjugation such as c-PA.     

Ab initio investigation of boron nanodevices: conductances of the different geometric conformations

Conductances of different geometric conformations of boron ribbon devices are calculated by the ab initio method. The I-V characteristics of three devices are rather different due to the difference in structure. The current of the hexagonal boron device is the largest and increases nonlinearly. The current of the hybrid hexagon-triangle boron device displays a large low-bias current and saturates at a value of about 5.2 μA. The current of the flat triangular boron flake exhibits a voltage gap at low bias and rises sharply with increasing voltage. The flat triangular boron device can be either conducting or insulating, depending on the field.     

Electronic structure and thermodynamic properties of LiBC under high pressure

This paper investigates the electronic structure and thermodynamic properties of LiBC in the hexagonal structure by using the generalized gradient approximation （GGA） and local density approximation correction scheme in the frame of density functional theory. The geometric structure of LiBC under zero pressure, and the dependences of the normalized lattice parameters a/ao and c/co, the ratio e/a, the normalized primitive volume V/Vo on pressure are given. The thermodynamic quantity （including the heat capacity Cv, Debye temperature 6~D, thermal expansion a and Grfineisen parameter -y） dependences on temperature and pressure are obtained through the GGA method and the quasi-harmonic Debye model. The band structures and density of state of LiBC under different pressures have also been analysed.     

Surface origin of high conductivities in undoped In2O3 thin films

The microscopic cause of conductivity in transparent conducting oxides like ZnO, In{2}O{3}, and SnO{2} is generally considered to be a point defect mechanism in the bulk, involving intrinsic lattice defects, extrinsic dopants, or unintentional impurities like hydrogen. We confirm here that the defect theory for O-vacancies can quantitatively account for the rather moderate conductivity and off-stoichiometry observed in bulk In{2}O{3} samples under high-temperature equilibrium conditions. However, nominally undoped thin-films of In{2}O{3} can exhibit surprisingly high conductivities exceeding by 4-5 orders of magnitude that of bulk samples under identical conditions (temperature and O{2} partial pressure). Employing surface calculations and thickness-dependent Hall measurements, we demonstrate that surface donors rather than bulk defects dominate the conductivity of In{2}O{3} thin films.     

Slight Co-doping tuned magnetic and electric properties on cubic BaFeO3 single crystal

The single crystal of cubic perovskite BaFeO$_{3}$ shows multiple magnetic transitions and external stimulus sensitive magnetism. In this paper, a 5%-Co-doped BaFeO$_{3}$ (i.e. BaFe$_{0.95}$Co$_{0.05}$O$_{3})$ single crystal was grown by combining floating zone methods with high-pressure techniques. Such a slight Co doping has little effect on crystal structure, but significantly changes the magnetism from the parent antiferromagnetic ground state to a ferromagnetic one with the Curie temperature $T_{\rm C} \approx 120$ K. Compared with the parent BaFeO$_{3}$ at the induced ferromagnetic state, the saturated magnetic moment of the doped BaFe$_{0.95}$Co$_{0.05}$O$_{3}$ increases by about 10% and reaches 3.64 $\mu_{\rm B}$/f.u. Resistivity and specific heat measurements show that the ferromagnetic ordering favors metallic-like electrical transport behavior for BaFe$_{0.95}$Co$_{0.05}$O$_{3}$. The present work indicates that Co-doping is an effective method to tune the magnetic and electric properties for the cubic perovskite phase of BaFeO$_{3}$.     

Electronic and optical properties of the zinc-blende structured LiZnN under pressure

The electronic and optical properties of the cubic zinc-blende (ZB) structured filled tetrahedral semiconductor α-LiZnN under pressure are investigated by using \textit{ab initio} plane wave pseudopotential density functional theory method within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The electronic band structure and the density of state under pressure are systematically described. The basic optical constants, including the reflection and absorption spectra, the energy-loss function, the complex refractive index and the dielectric function, are calculated and analysed at different external pressures. Our results suggested that the ZB α-LiZnN is transparent in the partially ultra-violet to the visible light region, and it seems that the transparency is hardly affected by the pressure.     

Physical Properties of Group 14 in $P6_{2}$22 Phase: First-Principles Calculations *

Two new Group IV element allotropes Si$_{3}$ and Ge$_{3}$ in P6$_{2}$22 phase are predicted in this work and their physical properties are investigated using the density functional theory. Each of the newly predicted allotropes has a super dense structure, which is mechanically, dynamically, and thermodynamically stable, as verified by elastic constants, phonon dispersion spectra and relative enthalpies, respectively. The mechanical anisotropy propertiesare studied in detail by illustrating the directional dependence of Young's modulus, discussing the universal anisotropic index, and calculating shear anisotropy factors together with bulk moduli. It shows that P6$_{2}$22-Si$_{3}$ exhibits the greater anisotropy than P6$_{2}$22-Ge$_{3}$,and interestingly both of the newly predicted crystals appear to be isotropic in the (001) plane. Additionally, the Debye temperature, sound velocities, and the minimum thermal conductivity are examined to evaluate the thermodynamic properties of C$_{3}$, Si$_{3}$, and Ge$_{3}$ in P6$_{2}$22 phase, and the electronic band structures are achieved by HSE06 hybrid functional, which indicate that P6$_{2}$22-C$_{3}$ and -Si$_{3}$ are indirect band gap semiconductors and P6$_{2}$22-Ge$_{3}$ exhibits the metallic feature.     

High density gas state at water/graphite interface studied by molecular dynamics simulation

In this paper molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the accumulation behaviour of N2 and H2 at water/graphite interface under ambient temperature and pressure. It finds that both N2 and H2 molecules can accumulate at the interface and form one of two states according to the ratio of gas molecules number to square of graphite surface from our simulation results： gas films （pancake-like） for a larger ratio and nanobubbles for a smaller ratio. In addition, we discuss the stabilities of nanobubbles at different environment temperatures. Surprisingly, it is found that the density of both kinds of gas states can be greatly increased, even comparable with that of the liquid N2 and liquid H2. The present results are expected to be helpful for the understanding of the stable existence of gas film （pancake-like） and nanobubbles.