0000000000330768
AUTHOR
Vanesa P. Cuenca-gotor
Structural and Vibrational Properties of Corundum-type In2O3 Nanocrystals under Compression
[EN] This work reports the structural and vibrational properties of nanocrystals of corundum-type In2O3 (rh-In2O3) at high pressures by using angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements up to 30 GPa. The equation of state and the pressure dependence of the Raman-active modes of the corundum phase in nanocrystals are in good agreement with previous studies on bulk material and theoretical simulations on bulk rh-In2O3. Nanocrystalline rh-In2O3 showed stability under compression at least up to 20 GPa, unlike bulk rh-In2O3 which gradually transforms to the orthorhombic Pbca (Rh2O3-III-type) structure above 12 14 GPa. The different stability range found in nanocrystallin…
Experimental and Theoretical Study of Bi2O2Se Under Compression
[EN] We report a joint experimental and theoretical study of the structural, vibrational, elastic, optical, and electronic properties of the layered high-mobility semiconductor Bi2O2Se at high pressure. A good agreement between experiments and ab initio calculations is observed for the equation of state, the pressure coefficients of the Raman-active modes and the bandgap of the material. In particular, a detailed description of the vibrational properties is provided. Unlike other Sillen-type compounds which undergo a tetragonal to collapsed tetragonal pressure-induced phase transition at relatively low pressures, Bi2O2Se shows a remarkable structural stability up to 30 GPa; however, our res…
GdBO3 and YBO3 crystals under compression
High-pressure X-ray diffraction studies on nanocrystals of the GdBO3 and YBO3 rare-earth orthoborates are herein reported up to 17.4(2) and 13.4(2) GPa respectively. The subsequent determination of the room-temperature pressure-volume equations of state is presented and discussed in the context of contemporary publications which contradict the findings of this work. In particular, the isothermal bulk moduli of GdBO3 and YBO3 are found to be 170(13) and 163(13) GPa respectively, almost 50% smaller than recent findings. Our experimental results provide an accurate revision of the high-pressure compressibility behaviour of GdBO3 and YBO3 which is consistent with the known systematics in isomor…
Pressure-induced phase transition and bandgap collapse in the wide-bandgap semiconductor InTaO4
A pressure-induced phase transition, associated with an increase of the coordination number of In and Ta, is detected beyond 13 GPa in InTaO4 by combining synchrotron x-ray diffraction and Raman measurements in a diamond-anvil cell with ab initio calculations. High-pressure optical-absorption measurements were also carried out. The high-pressure phase has a monoclinic structure that shares the same space group with the low-pressure phase (P2/c). The structure of the high-pressure phase can be considered as a slight distortion of an orthorhombic structure described by space group Pcna. The phase transition occurs together with a unit-cell volume collapse and an electronic band-gap collapse o…
Unveiling the role of the lone electron pair in sesquioxides at high pressure: compressibility of β-Sb2O3
The structural, vibrational and electronic properties of the compressed beta-Sb2O3 polymorph, a.k.a. mineral valentinite, have been investigated in a joint experimental and theoretical study up to 23 GPa. The compressibility of the lattice parameters, unit-cell volume and polyhedral unit volume as well as the behaviour of its Raman- and IR-active modes under compression have been interpreted on the basis of ab initio theoretical simulations. Valentinite shows an unusual compressibility up to 15 GPa with four different pressure ranges, whose critical pressures are 2, 4, and 10 GPa. The pressure dependence of the main structural units, the lack of soft phonons, and the electronic density char…
Pressure-Driven Isostructural Phase Transition in InNbO4: In Situ Experimental and Theoretical Investigations
[EN] The high-pressure behavior of technologically important visible-light photocatalytic semiconductor In.NbO4, adopting a monoclinic wolframite-type structure at ambient conditions, was investigated using synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopic measurements, and first-principles calculations. The experimental results indicate the occurrence of a pressure-induced isostructural phase transition in the studied compound beyond 10.8 GPa. The large volume collapse associated with the phase transition and the coexistence of two phases observed over a wide range of pressure shows the nature of transition to be first-order. There is an increase in the oxygen anion coordination num…
Experimental and theoretical study of dense YBO3 and the influence of non-hydrostaticity.
[EN] YBO3 is used in photonics applications as a host for red phosphors due to its desirable chemical stability, high quantum efficiency and luminescence intensity. Despite its fundamental thermodynamic nature, the isothermal bulk modulus of YBO3 has remained a contentious issue due to a lack of comprehensive experimental and theoretical data and its vibrational modes are far from being understood. Here, we present an experimental-theoretical structural and vibrational study of YBO3. From structural data obtained from synchrotron X-ray diffraction data and ab initio calculations, we have determined the YBO3 bulk modulus, isothermal compressibility tensor and pressure-volume (P-V) equation o…
Pressure-induced order–disorder transitions in β-In2S3: an experimental and theoretical study of structural and vibrational properties
This joint experimental and theoretical study of the structural and vibrational properties of β-In2S3 upon compression shows that this tetragonal defect spinel undergoes two reversible pressure-induced order-disorder transitions up to 20 GPa. We propose that the first high-pressure phase above 5.0 GPa has the cubic defect spinel structure of α-In2S3 and the second high-pressure phase (ϕ-In2S3) above 10.5 GPa has a defect α-NaFeO2-type (R3m) structure. This phase, related to the NaCl structure, has not been previously observed in spinels under compression and is related to both the tetradymite structure of topological insulators and to the defect LiTiO2 phase observed at high pressure in oth…
Ordered helium trapping and bonding in compressed arsenolite: Synthesis ofAs4O6·2He
Compression of arsenolite has been studied from a joint experimental and theoretical point of view. Experiments on this molecular solid at high pressures with different pressure-transmitting media have been interpreted thanks to state-of-the-art ab initio calculations. Our results confirm arsenolite as one of the most compressible minerals and provide evidence for ordered helium trapping above 3 GPa between adamantane-type $\mathrm{A}{\mathrm{s}}_{4}{\mathrm{O}}_{6}$ cages. Our calculations indicate that, at relatively small pressures, helium establishes rather localized structural bonds with arsenic forming a compound with stoichiometry $\mathrm{A}{\mathrm{s}}_{4}{\mathrm{O}}_{6}\ifmmode\c…
Characterization and Decomposition of the Natural van der Waals SnSb2Te4 under Compression
[EN] High pressure X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and electrical measurements, together with theoretical calculations, which include the analysis of the topological electron density and electronic localization function, evidence the presence of an isostructural phase transition around 2 GPa, a Fermi resonance around 3.5 GPa, and a pressure-induced decomposition of SnSb2Te4 into the high-pressure phases of its parent binary compounds (alpha-Sb2Te3 and SnTe) above 7 GPa. The internal polyhedral compressibility, the behavior of the Raman-active modes, the electrical behavior, and the nature of its different bonds under compression have been discussed and compared with their parent binary…