Structural stability,electronic structure and mechanical properties of 4d transition metal nitrides TMN (TM=Ru,Rh, Pd)

Ab initio calculations are performed to investigate the structural stability, electronic, structural and mechanical properties of 4d transition metal nitrides TMN (TM=Ru, Rh, Pd) for five different crystal structures, namely NaCl, CsCl, zinc blende, NiAs and wurtzite. Among the considered structures, zinc blende structure is found to be the most stable one among all three nitrides at normal pressure. A structural phase transition from ZB to NiAs phase is predicted at a pressure of 104 GPa, 50.5 GPa and 56 GPa for RuN, RhN and PdN respectively. The electronic structure reveals that these nitrides are metallic. The calculated elastic constants indicate that these nitrides are mechanically stable at ambient condition.     

纳米硫化锌球壳的高压相变研究

 采用同步辐射能量色散X射线衍射（EDEX）技术和金刚石对顶砧高压装置,对纳米硫化锌球壳进行了原位高压X射线衍射实验。最高压力达33.3 GPa。常压下纳米硫化锌球壳为纤锌矿结构和闪锌矿结构共存的混相结构。压力达到11.2 GPa时,纳米硫化锌空心球中的纤锌矿结构全部转变为闪锌矿结构。压力达到16.0 GPa时,发生了由闪锌矿结构向岩盐矿结构的相变,在17.5 GPa和21.0 GPa时分别出现未知峰,33.3 GPa时基本完全转变为岩盐矿结构。两个相变均为可逆相变。     

Pressure-induced phase transition of zinc-blende AlN: An ab initio molecular dynamics study

An ab initio constant pressure technique is carried out to study the pressure-induced phase transition of the zinc blende AlN (aluminum nitride). A first order phase transformation into a rock salt structure is observed in the constant pressure simulations. The transformation is accompanied by an initial tetragonal distortion and a subsequent shearing, similar to that found in the other zinc blende structured materials. This phase transition should occur around 6.2 GPa based upon the enthalpy calculations.     

Structural, electronic and optical properties of AgI under pressure

We report results of first-principles total-energy calculations for structural properties of the group I-VII silver iodide (AgI) semiconductor compound under pressure for B1 (rocksalt), B2 (cesium chloride), B3 (zinc-blende) and B4 (wurtzite) structures. Calculations have been performed using all-electron full-potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbitals FP-LAPW + lo method based on density-functional theory (DFT) and using generalised gradient approximation (GGA) for the purpose of exchange correlation energy functional. In agreement with experimental and earlier ab initio calculations, we find that the B3 phase is slightly lower in energy than the B4 phase, and it transforms to B1 structure at 4.19 GPa. Moreover, we found AgI has direct gap in B3 structure with a band gap of 1.378 eV and indirect band gap in B1 phase with a bandgap around 0.710 eV. We also present results of the effective masses for the electrons in the conduction band (CB) and the holes in the valence band (VB). To complete the fundamental characteristics of this compound we have analyzed their linear optical properties such as the dynamic dielectric function and energy loss function for a wide range of 0-25 eV.     

Elastic and thermodynamic properties in CdO at high pressures from first-principles calculations

In this study, we report first-principles calculations of the elastic and thermodynamic properties for CdO in both the B1 (rocksalt) phase and B2 (cesium chloride) phase. The calculations are performed within the framework of density functional theory, using the pseudopotential plane-wave method. From the theoretical results, we find that the high pressure structural phase transition of CdO from B1 structure to B2 structure is 90.31 GPa. The calculated values are, generally speaking, in good agreement with experiments and with similar theoretical calculations. According to the quasi-harmonic Debye model, we investigate the sound velocity and Debye temperature of CdO under pressures in the range of 0<P<150 GPa.     

Ab initio calculations of yttrium nitride: structural and electronic properties

Using first principles total energy calculations within the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method, we have studied the structural and electronic properties of yttrium nitride (YN) in the three phases, namely wurtzite, caesium chloride and rocksalt structures. The calculations are performed at zero and under hydrostatic pressure. In agreement with previous findings, it is found that the favored phase for YN is the rocksalt-like structure. We predict that at zero pressure YN in the rocksalt structure is a semiconductor with an indirect bandgap of 0.8 eV. A phase transition from a rocksalt to a caesium chloride structure is found to occur at ∼134 GPa. Besides, a transition from an indirect (Γ−X) bandgap semiconductor to a direct (X−X) one is predicted at pressure of ∼84 GPa. For the electron effective mass of rocksalt YN, these are the first results, to our knowledge. The information derived from the present study may be useful for the use of YN as an active layer in electronic devices such as diodes and transistors.     

First-principles study of zinc-blende to rocksalt phase transition in BN

The structural, electronic and elastic properties of the cubic boron nitride (BN) compound are investigated by a first-principle pseudopotential method. The calculations show that the structural phase transition from the zinc-blende(ZB) structure to the rocksalt (RS) structure occurs at a transition pressure of 1088 GPa and with a volume reduction of 3.1%. Both the ZB and RS structures of BN have indirect gaps, with energy gaps of 4.80 eV and 2.11 eV, respectively. The positive pressure derivative of the indirect band gap (Γ-X) energy for the the ZB phase and the predicted ultrahigh metallization pressure are attributed to the absence of d occupations in the valence bands. The increase of the shear modulus with increasing pressure implies that the lattice stability becomes higher when BN is compressed.     

ZnSe相变、电子结构的第一性原理计算

基于第一性原理平面波赝势(PWP)和广义梯度近似(GGA)方法,对闪锌矿结构(ZB)和岩盐结构(RS)的ZnSe在0—20GPa高压下的几何结构、态密度、能带结构进行了计算研究,分析了闪锌矿结构ZnSe和岩盐结构ZnSe的几何结构.在此基础上,研究了ZnSe的结构相变、弹性常数、成键情况以及相变压强下电子结构的变化机理.结果发现:通过焓相等原理得到的ZB相到RS相的相变压强为15.3GPa,而由弹性常数判据得到的相变压强为11.52GPa,但在9.5GPa左右并没有发现简单立方相的出现;在结构相变过程中,sp3轨道杂化现象并未消除,Zn原子的4s电子在RS相ZnSe的导电性中起主要贡献.     

Structural properties and new phase transitions of ScN using FP-LMTO method

By full potential linear muffin-tin orbitals (FP-LMTO) method, we have studied the phase transitions of ScN under high pressures. The local density (LDA) approximation was used for the exchange and correlation energy density functional. The most important result is the prediction of the possibility of two phase transitions from the cubic rocksalt (NaCl) structure to the orthorhombic CaSi (Cmmc) structure above 252.5 GPa and to the tetragonal AuCu (P4/mmm) structure at 303.017 GPa, the first one (NaCl-CaSi) occurring at a lower pressure than the well known NaCl to CsCl transition (found here to be 324 GPa).     

Full potential calculation of structural, elastic properties and high-pressure phase of binary noble metal carbide: ruthenium carbide

We present in this paper the results of an ab initio theoretical study within the local density approximation (LDA) to determine in rock-salt (B1), cesium chloride (B2), zinc-blende (B3), and tungsten carbide (WC) type structures, the structural, elastic constants, hardness properties and high-pressure phase of the noble metal carbide of ruthenium carbide (RuC).The ground state properties such as the equilibrium lattice constant, elastic constant, the bulk modulus, its pressure derivative, and the hardness in the four phases are determined and compared with available theoretical data. Only for the three phases B1, B3, and WC, is the RuC mechanically stable, while in the B2 phase it is unstable, but in B3 RuC is the most energetically favourable phase with the bulk modulus 263 GPa, and at sufficiently high pressure (P_t=19.2 GPa) the tungsten carbide (WC) structure would be favoured, where ReC-WC is meta-stable.The highest bulk modulus values in the B3, B2, and WC structures and the hardnesses of H(B3)=36.94 GPa, H(B1)=25.21 GPa, and H(WC)=25.30 GPa indicate that the RuC compound is a superhard material in B3, and is not superhard in B1 and WC structures compared with the H(diamond)=96 GPa.     

Preparation and properties of zinc blende and orthorhombic SnS films by chemical bath deposition

SnS (stannous sulfide) films were prepared by chemical bath deposition in which a novel chelating reagent ammonium citrate was used. The film has a zinc blende structure or an orthorhombic structure which is determined by the pH value and the temperature of the deposition solution. The reason for this result is considered to be that SnS films prepared under different conditions have different deposition mechanisms (ion-by-ion mechanism for the zinc blende structured SnS and hydroxide cluster mechanism for the orthorhombic structured SnS). The prepared SnS films are homogeneous and well adhered. SEM images show that the SnS films with different structures have different surface morphologies. Electrical test shows that the resistivity of the films is as low as 420 Ω cm and 3300 Ω cm for orthorhombic and zinc blende SnS films, respectively, which are much lower than the ever reported values. Persistent photoconductivity (PPC) phenomena are observed for both the films with zinc blende and orthorhombic structures by photo-current responses measurement. The optical bandgaps of the SnS films are determined to be 1.75 eV and 1.15 eV for zinc blende structure and orthorhombic structure, respectively.     

First-principles investigation of AlAs at high pressure

The total energy of AlAs as a function of the unit cell volume has been calculated for the zinc blende, nickel arsenide and rock salt structures using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method and the local density approximation for the exchange–correlation potential. AlAs is found to undergo a structural phase transition from ZnS type to NiAs type at 6.68 GPa, in good agreement with the experimental value of 7±5 GPa. The band structure, density of states and band gap pressure coefficients of the ZnS phase are also given. On the other hand, an accurate calculation of the linear optical functions (the refractive index and its pressure derivative, and both the imaginary and the real parts of the dielectric function) is performed for the photon energy range up to 11 eV. The results are compared with the few existing calculations and experimental measurements reported in the literature.     

Characterisation of the high-pressure structural transition and elastic properties in boron arsenic

This paper carries out the First principles calculation of the crystal structures (zinc blende (B3) and rocksalt (B1)) and phase transition of boron arsenic (BAs) based on the density-functional theory. Using the relation between enthalpy and pressure, it finds that the transition phase from the B3 structural to the B1 structural occurs at the pressure of 113.42GPa. Then the elastic constants C₁₁, C₁₂, C₄₄, bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young modulus, anisotropy factor, Kleinman parameter and Poisson ratio are discussed in detail for two polymorphs of BAs. The results of the structural parameters and elastic properties in B3 structure are in good agreement with the available theoretical and experimental values.     

Measurement of Seebeck effect (thermoelectric power) at high pressure up to 40 GPa

The paper reports details of a high-pressure thermoelectric power (Seebeck effect) technique up to 40 GPa. Several different types of high-pressure cells with anvil insets are presented. The technique was applied for measurements of pressure dependence of the thermopower of several substances including elemental metals (lead, Pb; indium, In), cerium-nickel alloy, Ce-Ni and sulphur, S. Two peculiarities in the pressure dependences of the thermopower of CeNi were found and attributed to structural transformations, near ∼5 and ∼10 GPa. These transitions were confirmed in direct X-ray diffraction studies. Sulphur compressed to 40 GPa exhibited a hole type conductivity and the thermopower value was about ∼+1 mV/K. Additionally, as an example of pressure calibration, the data on the electrical resistivity of zinc selenide, ZnSe, are given in a range of 0-23 GPa. These data suggest three possible scenarios of phase transitions from a rock salt (RS) high-pressure phase of ZnSe under decompression: RS→zinc blende (ZB), RS→cinnabar→ZB, and RS→wurtzite.     

Electron momentum density and phase transition in SrO

In this article, we present electron momentum density distribution and phase transition in SrO. The experimental values of momentum density have been measured using 5Ci ²⁴¹Am Compton spectrometer and analyzed using theoretical data obtained from the ab-initio linear combination of atomic orbitals method. The first-principles calculations of the total energy of SrO as a function of cell volume have also been carried out for the cubic rocksalt (B1) and cesium chloride (B2) phases. Several structural parameters, i.e. equilibrium lattice constant, transition pressure, bulk modulus, etc. of B1 and B2 phases have been calculated and compared with the previous investigations. We conclude that the stable phase of SrO is B1 and the phase transition from B1 to B2 occurs at 35.8?GPa.     

High pressure structural phase transitions of PbPo

First-principles calculations have been performed to investigate the high pressure phase transitions and dynamical properties of the less known lead polonium compound. The calculated ground state parameters for the NaCl phase show good agreement with the experimental data. The obtained results show that the intermediate phase transition for this compound is the orthorhombic Pnma phase. The PbPo undergoes from the rocksalt to Pnma phase at 4.20 GPa. Further structural phase transition from intermediate to CsCl phase has been found at 8.5 GPa. In addition, phonon dispersion spectra were derived from linear-response to density functional theory. In particular, we show that the dynamical properties of PbPo exhibit some peculiar features compared to other III–V compounds. Finally, thermodynamics properties have been also addressed from quasiharmonic approximation.     

FP-LMTO investigations of mechanical stability and high pressure of platinum nitride compounds

We report local density functional calculations using the full potential linear muffin-tin orbital (FP-LMTO) method for binary platinum nitride (PtN), in five different crystal structures, the rock salt (B1), zinc-blende (B3), wurtzite (B4), nickel arsenide (B8), and PbS (B10) phases. The ground state properties such as the equilibrium lattice constant, elastic constants, the bulk modulus and its pressure derivative of PtN in these phases are determined and compared with the other available experimental and theoretical works.Our calculations confirm in the B3 structure that PtN is found to be mechanically stable with a large bulk modulus B=232.45 GPa and at a sufficiently high pressure the B8₁ structure would be favoured.The theoretical transition pressure from zinc blende (B3) to NiAs (B8₁), zinc-blende (B3) to rock-salt (B1) and zinc-blende (B3) to PbO (B10) is determined to be 9.10 GPa, 9.85 GPa and 69.35 GPa, respectively. Our calculation shows also in five different structures for PtN a high bulk modulus is a good indicator of a hard material.     

Pressure-induced phase transition in wurtzite ZnS: An ab initio constant pressure study

We study the pressure-induced phase transition of wurtzite ZnS using a constant pressure ab initio technique. A first-order phase transition into a rocksalt state at 30–35 GPa is observed in the constant pressure simulation. We also investigate the stability of wurtzite (WZ) and zinc-blende (ZB) phases from energy–volume calculations and Gibbs free energies at zero temperature and find that both structures show nearly similar equations of state and transform into a rocksalt structure around 14 GPa, in agreement with experiments. Additionally, we examine the influence of pressure on the electronic structure of the wurtzite and zinc-blende ZnS crystals and find that their band gap energies exhibit similar tendency and increase with increasing pressure. The calculated pressure coefficients and deformation potential are found to be comparable with experiments.     

Pressure-induced phase transition in defect Chalcopyrites HgAl2Se4 and CdAl2S4

Results of angle dispersive X-ray diffraction (ADXRD) measurements on the defect chalcopyrites (DCP), HgAl₂Se₄ and CdAl₂S₄ up to 22.2 and 34 GPa, respectively, are reported. The ambient tetragonal phase is retained in HgAl₂Se₄ and CdAl₂S₄ up to 13 and 9 GPa respectively. The values of the bulk modulus estimated from the Equation of State is 66(1.5) and 44.6(1) GPa for HgAl₂Se₄ and CdAl₂S₄ in the chalcopyrite phase. At higher pressure a disordered rock-salt structure and on pressure release a disordered zinc blende structure with broad X-ray diffraction lines are observed as is the case for several defect chalcopyrites.     

Experimental constraints on the phase diagram of elemental zirconium

The phase diagram of zirconium metal has been studied using synchrotron X-ray diffraction and time-of-flight neutron scattering at temperatures and pressures up to 1273 K and 17 GPa. The equilibrium phase boundary of the α-ω transition has a dT/dP slope of 473 K/GPa, and the extrapolated transition pressure at ambient temperature is located at 3.4 GPa. For the ω-β transition, the phase boundary has a negative dT/dP slope of 15.5 K/GPa between 6.4 and 15.3 GPa, which is substantially smaller than a previously reported value of −39±5 K/GPa in the pressure range of 32-35 GPa. This difference indicates a significant curvature of the phase boundary between 15.3 and 35 GPa. The α-ω-β triple point was estimated to be at 4.9 GPa and 953 K, which is comparable to previous results obtained from a differential thermal analysis. Except for the three known crystalline forms, the β phase of zirconium metal was found to possess an extraordinary glass forming ability at pressures between 6.4 and 8.6 GPa. This transformation leads to a limited stability field for the β phase in the pressure range of 6-16 GPa and to complications of high-temperature portion of phase diagram for zirconium metal.