Phase transformation of Ho2O3 at high pressure

The structural stability of cubic Ho2O3 under high pressure has been investigated by angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction (ADXD) in a diamond anvil cell up to 63.0 GPa at room temperature. The diffraction data reveal two structural transformations on compression. The structural transformation from a cubic to a monoclinic structure starts at 8.9 GPa and is complete at 16.3 GPa with a similar to 8.1% volume collapse. A hexagonal phase begins to appear at similar to 14.8 GPa and becomes dominant at 26.4 GPa. This high-pressure hexagonal phase with a small amount of retained monoclinic phase is stable up to the highest pressure of 63.0 GPa in this study. After release of pressure, the hexagonal phase transforms to a monoclinic structure. A third-order Birch-Murnaghan fit yields zero pressure bulk moduli (B-0) of 206(3), 200(7) and 204(19) GPa and their pressure derivatives (B-0') of 4.8(4), 2.1(4), 3.8(5) for the cubic, monoclinic and hexagonal phases, respectively. Comparing with other rare-earth sesquioxides, it is suggested that the transition pressure from cubic to monoclinic phase, as well as the bulk modulus of the cubic phase, increases with the decreasing of the cation radius of rare-earth sesquioxides. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3603027]