Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 104, Issue 44, Pages 17297-17299Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0709309104
Keywords
alkali metals; crystal structure; high pressure
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Funding
- EPSRC [EP/E054358/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [GR/S28396/01, EP/E054358/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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At pressures above a megabar (100 GPa), sodium crystallizes in a number of complex crystal structures with unusually low melting temperatures, reaching as low as 300 K at 118 GPa. We have utilized this unique behavior at extreme pressures to grow a single crystal of sodium at 108 GPa, and have investigated the complex crystal structure at this pressure using high-intensity x-rays from the new Diamond synchrotron source, in combination with a pressure cell with wide angular apertures. We confirm that, at 108 GPa, sodium is isostructural with the c/16 phase of lithium, and we have refined the full crystal structure of this phase. The results demonstrate the extension of single-crystal structure refinement beyond 100 GPa and raise the prospect of successfully determining the structures of yet more complex phases reported in sodium and other elements at extreme pressures.
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