Zinc-blende to rocksalt transition in SiC in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell

We explore the stability of the ambient pressure zinc-blende polymorph (B3) structure of silicon carbide (SiC) at high pressures and temperatures where it transforms to the rocksalt (B1) structure. We find that the transition occurs similar to 40 GPa lower than previously measured when heated to moderately high temperatures. Alower transition pressure is consistent with the transition pressures predicted in numerous ab initio computations. We find a large volume decrease across the transition of similar to 17%, with the volume drop increasing at higher formation pressures, suggesting this transition is volume driven yielding a nearly pressure-independent Clapeyron slope. Such a dramatic density increase occurring at pressure is important to consider in applications where SiC is exposed to extreme conditions, such as in industrial applications or planetary interiors.