Phase transitions in KIO(3)

The high-pressure behavior of KIO(3) was studied up to 30?GPa using single crystal and powder x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, second harmonic generation (SHG) experiments and density functional theory (DFT)-based calculations. Triclinic KIO(3) shows two pressure-induced structural phase transitions at 7?GPa and at 14?GPa. Single crystal x-ray diffraction at 8.7(1)?GPa was employed to solve the structure of the first high-pressure phase (space group R3, a?=?5.89(1) ?, α?=?62.4(1)°). The bulk modulus, B, of this phase was obtained by fitting a second order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state (eos) to synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction data resulting in B(exp,second)?=?67(3)?GPa. The DFT model gave B(DFT,second)?=?70.9?GPa, and, for a third order Birch-Murnaghan eos, B(DFT,third)?=?67.9?GPa with a pressure derivative of [Formula: see text]. Both high-pressure transformations were detectable by Raman spectroscopy and the observation of second harmonic signals. The presence of strong SHG signals shows that all high-pressure phases are acentric. By using different pressure media, we showed that the transition pressures are very strongly influenced by shear stresses. Earlier work on low- and high-temperature transitions was complemented by low-temperature heat capacity measurements. We found no evidence for the presence of an orientational glass, in contrast to earlier dielectric studies, but consistent with earlier low-temperature diffraction studies.     

ZnS结构相变、电子结构和光学性质的研究

运用第一性原理平面波赝势和广义梯度近似方法, 对闪锌矿结构(ZB)和氯化钠结构(RS) ZnS的状态方程及其在高压下的相变进行计算研究, 分析相变点附近的电子态密度、能带结构和光学性质的变化机理. 结果表明: 通过状态方程得到ZB相到RS相的相变压强值为18.1 GPa, 而利用焓相等原理得到的相变压强值为18.0 GPa; 在结构相变过程中, sp³轨道杂化现象并未消失, RS相ZnS的金属性明显增强; 与ZB相ZnS相比, RS相ZnS的介电常数主峰明显增强, 并向低能方向出现了明显偏移, 使得介电峰向低能方向拓展, 在低能区电子跃迁大大增强. 关键词： 硫化锌 相变 电子结构 光学性质     

Dynamical stability and phase transition of ZrC under pressure

A comprehensive first principles study of structural, elastic, electronic, and phonon properties of zirconium carbide (ZrC) is reported within the density functional theory scheme. The aim is to primarily focus on the vibrational properties of this transition metal carbide to understand the mechanism of phase transition. The ground state properties such as lattice constant, elastic constants, bulk modulus, shear modulus, electronic band structure, and phonon dispersion curves (PDC) of ZrC in rock-salt (RS) and high-pressure CsCl structures are determined. The pressure-dependent PDCs are also reported in NaCl phase. The phonon modes become softer and finally attain imaginary frequency with the increase of pressure. The lattice degree of freedom is used to explain the phase transition. Static calculations predict the RS to CsCl phase transition to occur at 308?GPa at 0?K. Dynamical calculations lower this pressure by about 40?GPa. The phonon density of states, electron–phonon interaction coefficient, and Eliashberg's function are also presented. The calculated electron–phonon coupling constant λ and superconducting transition temperature agree reasonably well with the available experimental data.     

第一性原理研究硫化镉高压相变及其电子结构与弹性性质

采用第一性原理研究了CdS的六方纤锌矿(WZ), 立方闪锌矿(ZB) 和岩盐矿(RS)相在高压条件下的相稳定性、 相变点、电子结构以及弹性性能.WZ相与RS 相可以在相应的压强范围内稳定存在, 而ZB相不能稳定存在.压强大于2.18 GPa时, WZ相向RS相发生金属化相变.WZ相中S原子电负性大于Cd, 且电负性差值小于1.7, CdS的WZ相为共价晶体.高压作用下, S原子半径被强烈压缩, 有效核电荷增加, 对层外电子吸引能力提高, 电负性急剧增大, 导致S与Cd的电负性差值大于1.7, CdS的RS相以离子晶体存在. WZ相的C₄₄随压强增加呈下降趋势, 导致WZ相力学不稳定, 并向RS相转变.当压强大于2.18 GPa时, RS相C₁₁, C₁₂随压强增加而增大, 并且C₄₄保持稳定, 说明RS相具有良好的高压稳定性与力学性能. 关键词： 第一性原理 相变 电子结构 弹性性质     

相变及空位缺陷对高压下BeO光学性质的影响

为了探究BeO晶体能否成为冲击波实验中的候选窗口材料,本文采用密度泛函理论(DFT)的第一性原理方法,计算了150 GPa的压力范围内BeO理想晶体和含氧空位点缺陷晶体的光学性质.吸收谱数据显示,BeO高压结构相变对其吸收谱的吸收边几乎没有影响.并且,在150 GPa压力范围内,BeO理想晶体在可见光区没有光吸收行为.氧空位点缺陷的存在将使得其吸收边出现明显的红移现象,但在可见光区仍然没有光吸收(是透明的).波长在532 nm处的折射率数据表明:在BeO的WZ和RS结构相区,其折射率会随着压力增加而缓慢降低,而高压结构相变和氧空位缺陷将使得其折射率显著增大.计算数据分析表明BeO有成为冲击窗口材料的可能,并且本文所获信息将对未来进一步的实验有重要参考价值.     

Structural transition behavior of ZnS nanotetrapods under high pressure

ZnS nanotetrapods synthesized via a solvothermal route have a octahedral core with a zincblende (ZB) structure and four hexprism-shaped arms consisting of alternately stacking ZB and wurtzite (WZ) phases, where the WZ phase has a higher volume percentage. In situ angular-dispersive X-ray diffraction (ADXRD) measurements were carried out to study the structural behavior of ZnS nanotetrapods under high pressure up to 41.3?GPa. The initial WZ structure exhibits a very high mechanical stability to ～11.3?GPa. Both the WZ and ZB structures transform to the rocksalt (RS) structure at ～15.4?GPa. The bulk moduli of the WZ (148.2?±?8.9?GPa) and RS (165.6?±?9.9?GPa) phases are both larger than the previously reported values. These phenomena are discussed based on the alternating epitaxial growth of the WZ and ZB phases in the arms of nanotetrapods. Our study suggests that the internal structure of nanomaterials could also greatly affect their stability and transition behavior.     

Equation of state and structural characterization of Cu4I4{PPh2(CH2CH = CH2)}4 under pressure

Combined high pressure single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments and ab initio simulations based on the density functional theory have been performed on a copper(I) iodide cluster formulated [Cu₄I₄{PPh₂(CH₂CH?=?CH₂)}₄] under high pressure up to 5?GPa. An exhaustive study of compressibility has been done by means of determination of isothermal equations of state and structural changes with pressure at 298?K taking advantage of the single crystal is more precise than powder X-ray diffraction for this type of experiments. It allows us to report the evidence of the existence of an isostructural phase transition of second order at 2.3?GPa not detected so far.     

Structural phase transitions in yttrium under ultrahigh pressures

X-ray diffraction studies were carried out on the rare earth metal yttrium up to 177?GPa in a diamond anvil cell at room temperature. Yttrium was compressed to 37% of its initial volume at the highest pressure. The rare earth crystal structure sequence hcp?→?Sm?type?→?dhcp?→?mixed(dhcp?+?fcc)?→?distorted fcc (dfcc) is observed in yttrium below 50?GPa. The dfcc (hR24) phase has been observed to persist in the pressure range of 50-95?GPa. A structural transition from dfcc to a low symmetry phase has been observed in yttrium at 99?±?4?GPa with a volume change of -?2.6%. This low symmetry phase has been identified as a monoclinic C2/m phase, which has also been observed in other rare earth elements under high pressures. The appearance of this low symmetry monoclinic phase in yttrium shows that its electronic structure under extreme conditions resembles that of heavy rare earth metals, with a significant increase in d-band character of the valence electrons and possibly some f-electron states near the Fermi level.     

Phase transformations in calcite from electrical impedance measurements

The phase transformation in calcite I-IV-V and calcite ? aragonite have been characterized by electrical impedance measurements at temperatures 600–1200°C and pressures 0.5–2.5?GPa in a piston cylinder apparatus. The bulk conductivity σ has been measured from Argand plots in the frequency range 10⁵–10^?2?Hz in an electric cell representing a coaxial cylindrical capacitor. The synthetic polycrystalline powder of CaCO₃ and natural crystals of calcite were used as starting materials. The transformation temperature T_c was identified from resistivity-temperature curves as a kink point of the activation energy. At pressure above 2?GPa in ordered phase calcite I, the activation energy E _σ is c. 1.05?eV, and in disordered phase calcite V E _σ is c. 0.75?eV. The pressure dependence of T_c for the rotational order–disorder transformation in calcite is positive for pressures <1?GPa and negative for pressures >1?GPa. The transformation boundary of calcite 1–IV is observed only during first heating in samples after a long annealing at low temperatures. The activation energy of calcite I???IV decreases gradually from 1.8 to 1.05?eV with the pressure increase from 0.5 to 2?GPa. The kinetics of calcite ? aragonite transformation has been monitored by measuring a time-variation of the electrical resistance of a calcite sample at 10³?Hz in the stability P-T field of aragonite. The variation of the impedance correlates with the degree of phase transformation, estimated from X-ray powder diffraction studies on quenched products of experiments. The kinetics of calcite ? aragonite transformation may be fitted to the Avrami kinetics with the exponent m???1–1.5.     

高压下ZnSe 纳米带的结构相变及拉曼散射研究

 利用高压原位角散X射线衍射实验研究了ZnSe纳米带的结构稳定性。发现样品在12.6 GPa 附近存在一个从立方闪锌矿型到立方岩盐矿型的结构相变,并且在相变点附近存在较大的体积收缩,相对体积变化率达13%。利用Birch-Murnaghan 状态方程拟合,得到了闪锌矿相的体弹模量约为56 GPa,略低于体材料的体弹模量（约67 GPa）;并得到其立方岩盐矿相的体弹模量约为116 GPa。高压拉曼散射实验结果表明,横光学声子模散射峰在5.5 GPa压力附近发生劈裂,纵光学声子模散射峰在12.8 GPa压力以上逐渐消失。根据角散实验的体弹模量数据,计算得到了闪锌矿相中对应不同声子模式的格林爱森常数。     

高压下β-FeOOH纳米固体结构转变的研究

 以化学水解法合成的β-FeOOH纳米微粉（平均粒径在12 nm左右）为原料，分别在0.0~4.5 GPa和200~350 ℃的压力和温度范围进行冷压和热压处理。实验结果表明，冷压对β-FeOOH纳米固体的结构没有明显影响，但却使它的热致相变（从β-FeOOH相到α-Fe₂O₃相）温度从常压下的203.8 ℃提高到4.5 GPa压力下的274 ℃，接近常规体相材料的相变温度。而在一定的热压条件处理下，首次发现了从β-FeOOH相到α-FeOOH相的结构转变，并在4.5 GPa、200 ℃的热压条件下得到了转变过程中的一个新的亚稳相。从压力和温度对纳米微粒的作用角度，对上述实验结果进行了讨论。     

Advances in data reduction of high-pressure x-ray powder diffraction data from two-dimensional detectors: a case study of schafarzikite (FeSb(2)O(4))

Methods have been developed to facilitate the data analysis of multiple two-dimensional powder diffraction images. These include, among others, automatic detection and calibration of Debye-Scherrer ellipses using pattern recognition techniques, and signal filtering employing established statistical procedures like fractile statistics.All algorithms are implemented in the freely available program package Powder3D developed for the evaluation and graphical presentation of large powder diffraction data sets.As a case study, we report the pressure dependence of the crystal structure of iron antimony oxide FeSb(2)O(4) (p≤21?GPa, T = 298?K) using high-resolution angle dispersive x-ray powder diffraction. FeSb(2)O(4) shows two phase transitions in the measured pressure range. The crystal structures of all modifications consist of frameworks of Fe(2+)O(6) octahedra and irregular Sb(3+)O(4) polyhedra. At ambient conditions, FeSb(2)O(4) crystallizes in space group P4(2)/mbc (phase I). Between p = 3.2?GPa and 4.1?GPa it exhibits a displacive second order phase transition to a structure of space group P 2(1)/c (phase II, a = 5.7792(4)??, b = 8.3134(9)??, c = 8.4545(11)??, β = 91.879(10)°, at p = 4.2?GPa). A second phase transition occurs between p = 6.4?GPa and 7.4?GPa to a structure of space group P4(2)/m (phase III, a = 7.8498(4)??, c = 5.7452(5)??, at p = 10.5?GPa). A nonlinear compression behaviour over the entire pressure range is observed, which can be described by three Vinet equations in the ranges from p = 0.52?GPa to p = 3.12?GPa, p = 4.2?GPa to p = 6.3?GPa and from p = 7.5?GPa to p = 19.8?GPa. The extrapolated bulk moduli of the high-pressure phases were determined to K(0) = 49(2)?GPa for phase I, K(0) = 27(3)?GPa for phase II and K(0) = 45(2)?GPa for phase III. The crystal structures of all phases are refined against x-ray powder data measured at several pressures between p = 0.52?GPa, and 10.5?GPa.     

C60高压X射线衍射研究

 采用同步辐射X光源和能量色散法对高纯C₆₀粉末样品进行高压原位X光衍射实验。由金刚石对顶压砧高压装置（DAC）产生高压,用已知状态方程的Pt粉末作内标,由Pt的衍射数据确定样品压力,最高压力达30 GPa。实验结果表明：室温常压下原始C₆₀样品为面心立方结构,晶格常数a=1.420 86 nm。高压下C₆₀的结构有所变化：从p=13.7 GPa开始,(311)线发生劈裂,形成低对称相;随着压力增加,衍射线逐渐变宽,强度逐渐变弱,压力超过25 GPa,衍射背底隆起,C₆₀开始转化成非晶相;在30 GPa左右,衍射线条完全消失,标志着向非晶相转化过程的完成。人们也对C₆₀样品不同压力的高压“淬火”相进行了X光衍射实验。采用非静水压的装样方式,最高压力达44 GPa,结果在30 GPa以上,C₆₀也转变为非晶相。最后我们对C₆₀晶体的压致非晶化现象进行了初步的讨论。     

New phase transition of solid bromine under high pressure

Solid bromine has been studied by x-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments up to a maximum pressure of 75 GPa. The data analysis of the extended fine structure reveals that the intramolecular distance first increases, reaching its maximum value at 25+/-5 GPa. From this value the intramolecular distance abruptly begins to decrease evidencing a nonpreviously observed phase transformation taking place at 25+/-5 GPa. A maximum variation of 0.08 A is observed at 65+/-5 GPa where again a phase transition occurs. This last transformation could correspond with the recently observed change to an incommensurate modulated phase. We discuss the possible generalization of the observed new phase transition at 25+/-5 GPa to the case of the other halogens.     

Structural stability and theoretical strength of the single crystal Ag under uniaxial loading

The structural stability and theoretical strength of FCC crystal Ag under uniaxial loading have been investigated by combining MAEAM with Wang modified Born stability criteria. The results reveal that, under sufficient compression, there exists a stress-free BCC phase, which is unstable and slips spontaneously to a stress-free mBCT phase by consuming internal energy. The stable region ranges from −2.076 to 4.390 GPa in the theoretical strength or from −7.972% to 8.721% in the strain correspondingly. The calculated structural energy difference between the BCC and FCC phase is in good agreement with the experimental value.     

Formation of sp(3) bonding in nanoindented carbon nanotubes and graphite

Nanoindentation-induced interlayer bond switching and phase transformation in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphite are simulated by molecular dynamics. Both graphite and CNTs experience a soft-to-hard phase transformation at room temperature at compressive stresses of 12 and 16 GPa, respectively. Further penetration leads to the formation of interlayer sp(3) bonds, which are reversible upon unloading if the compressive stress is under about 70 GPa, beyond which permanent interlayer sp(3) bonds form. During nanoindentation, the maximum nanohardness of graphite can reach 109 GPa, and CNTs 120 GPa, which is comparable to that of diamond.     

Formation of Diamond-Like Phases from Hexagonal and Tetragonal Graphene Layers

Structural mutual transformations of graphites and diamond-like phases are studied theoretically using the density functional theory. It is established that the phase transitions of hexagonal graphene to diamond- like phases should occur at uniaxial stresses of ~66–71 GPa, while some diamond-like phases can be obtained from tetragonal graphene at much lower pressures of ~40–52 GPa.     

Phase transitions of YbX (X = P,As and Sb) with a NaCl-type structure at high pressures

The powder X-ray diffraction of YbX (X?=?P, As and Sb) with a NaCl-type structure has been studied with synchrotron radiation up to 63?GPa at room temperature. YbSb undergoes the first-order structural phase transition from the NaCl-type (B1) to the CsCl-type (B2) structure at around 13?GPa. The structural change to the B2 structure occurs with the volume collapse of about 1% at 13?GPa. The transition pressure of YbSb is surprisingly lower than that of any other heavier LnSb (Ln?=?Dy, Ho, Er, Tm and Lu). The pressure-induced phase transitions in YbP and YbAs are observed at around 51?GPa and 52?GPa respectively. The transition pressure of both compounds is much higher than that of YbSb. The high-pressure structural behaviour of YbX (X?=?P, As and Sb) is discussed. The volume versus pressure curve for YbX with the NaCl-type structure is fitted by a Birch equation of state. The bulk moduli of these compounds with the NaCl-type structure are 104?GPa for YbP, 85?GPa for YbAs and 52?GPa for YbSb.     

Raman spectroscopy investigation on the pressure-induced structural and magnetic phase transition in two-dimensional antiferromagnet FePS3

The layered van der Waals antiferromagnetic FePS₃ has received considerable attention because long range magnetic ordering can remain with single atoms layer, which offers potential applications in future ultrathin devices. Here, we perform Raman spectroscopy to systematically explore the variations of lattice vibration and crystal structure under pressure up to 18.9 GPa. We observe two structural phase transitions at approximately 4 GPa and 13 GPa, respectively. Moreover, by monitoring spin-related Raman modes, we demonstrate a pressure-induced magnetic structure transition above 2 GPa. These modes disappear accompanying the second structural phase transition and insulator-to-metal transition (IMT), indicating the suppression of long-range magnetic ordering, in agreement with earlier neutron powder diffraction experiments.     

First principles study of structural stability,electronic structure and mechanical properties of ReN and TcN

The crystal structure, structural stability, electronic and mechanical properties of ReN and TcN are investigated using first principles calculations. We have considered five different crystal structures: NaCl, zinc blende (ZB), NiAs, tungsten carbide (WC) and wurtzite (WZ). Among these ZB phase is found to be the lowest energy phase for ReN and TcN at normal pressure. Pressure induced structural phase transitions from ZB to WZ phase at 214 GPa in ReN and ZB to NiAs phase at 171 GPa in TcN are predicted. The electronic structure reveals that both ReN and TcN are metallic in nature. The computed elastic constants indicate that both the nitrides are mechanically stable. As ReN in NiAs phase has high bulk and shear moduli and low Poisson's ratio, it is found to be a potential ultra incompressible super hard material.