High-pressure stability and compressibility of APO4 (A = La, Nd, Eu, Gd, Er, and Y) orthophosphates: An x-ray diffraction study using synchrotron radiation

Room-temperature angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction measurements on zircon-type YPO4 and ErPO4, and monazite-type GdPO4, EuPO4, NdPO4, and LaPO4 were performed in a diamond-anvil cell up to 30 GPa using neon as pressure-transmitting medium. In the zircon-structured oxides we found evidence of a reversible pressure-induced structural phase transformation from zircon to a monazite-type structure. The onset of the transition is at 19.7 GPa in YPO4 and 17.3 GPa in ErPO4. In LaPO4 a nonreversible transition is found at 26.1 GPa and a barite-type structure is proposed for the high-pressure phase. For the other three monazites studied, their structures were found to be stable up to 30 GPa. Evidence for additional phase transitions or chemical decomposition of the materials was not found in the experiments. The equations of state and axial compressibility for the different phases are also determined. In particular, we found that in a given compound the monazite structure is less compressible than the zircon structure. This fact is attributed to the higher packing efficiency of monazite versus zircon. The differential bond compressibility of different polyhedra is also reported and related to the anisotropic compressibility of both structures. Finally, the sequence of structural transitions and compressibilities are discussed in comparison with other orthophosphates.