arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Yann Le Godec.
A new method of producing boron phosphide (BP) submicron powders by self-propagating high-temperature reaction between boron phosphate and magnesium in the presence of an inert diluent (sodium chloride) has been proposed. Bulk polycrystalline BP with microhardness of HV = 28(2) GPa has been prepared by sintering the above powders at 7.7 GPa and 2600 K.
Here we report the systematic study of solid-state phase transformations between boron polymorphs: α-B12, β-B106, γ-B28, T-B52 and amorphous boron (am-B). It is evident that the Ostwald rule of stages plays an important role during phase transformations not only of amorphous boron, but also of crystalline forms. We have observed the crystallization of tetragonal boron T-B52 from amorphous phase of high purity (99.99%), which, however, cannot be easily distinguished from B50C2 boron compound. Many factors influence the transformations of amorphous phase, and it is possible to observe not only well known am-B \rightarrow α-B12 and am-B \rightarrow β-B106 transformations, but also am-B \rightarrow T-B52, never reported so far. At ~14 GPa the crystallization order becomes β-B106 \rightarrow α-B12 \rightarrow γ-B28, while at ~11 GPa the intermediate crystallization of T-B52 still was observed. This unambiguously indicates that α-B12 is more thermodynamically stable than β-B106 at high pressures, and renders possible to transform, at least partially, common β-phase of high purity into α-B12 at very high pressures and moderate temperatures (below 1600 K), i.e. outside the domain of its stability.
Zarechnaya et al. claimed an isostructural transformation in gamma-B28 at about 40 GPa; below which the phase is more compressible (B0=227 GPa) and above which less compressible (B0=281 GPa) than in previous experiments or theory. Here we wish to point out some interesting questions related to these claims. Summarizing briefly our points, the suggestion of an isostructural transformation is inconsistent with ab initio calculations and experiment, we see no physical mechanism that could be responsible for such a transformation, and the evidence for it is self-contradictory.
γ-B28 is a recently established high-pressure phase of boron. Its structure consists of icosahedral B12 clusters and B2 dumbbells in a NaCl-type arrangement (B2)δ+(B12)δ- and displays a significant charge transfer δ~0.5- 0.6. The discovery of this phase proved essential for the understanding and construction of the phase diagram of boron. γ-B28 was first experimentally obtained as a pure boron allotrope in early 2004 and its structure was discovered in 2006. This paper reviews recent results and in particular deals with the contentious issues related to the equation of state, hardness, putative isostructural phase transformation at ~40 GPa, and debates on the nature of chemical bonding in this phase. Our analysis confirms that (a) calculations based on density functional theory give an accurate description of its equation of state, (b) the reported isostructural phase transformation in γ-B28 is an artifact rather than a fact, (c) the best estimate of hardness of this phase is 50 GPa, (d) chemical bonding in this phase has a significant degree of ionicity. Apart from presenting an overview of previous results within a consistent view grounded in experiment, thermodynamics and quantum mechanics, we present new results on Bader charges in γ-B28 using different levels of quantum-mechanical theory (GGA, exact exchange, and HSE06 hybrid functional), and show that the earlier conclusion about significant degree of partial ionicity in this phase is very robust.
We report accurate measurements of the equation of state (EOS) of cubic boron nitride by x-ray diffraction up to 160 GPa at 295 K and 80 GPa in the range 500-900 K. Experiments were performed on single-crystals embedded in a quasi-hydrostatic pressure medium (helium or neon). Comparison between the present EOS data at 295 K and literature allows us to critically review the recent calibrations of the ruby standard. The full P-V-T data set can be represented by a Mie-Grüneisen model, which enables us to extract all relevant thermodynamic parameters: bulk modulus and its first pressure-derivative, thermal expansion coefficient, thermal Grüneisen parameter and its volume dependence. This equation of state is used to determine the isothermal Grüneisen mode parameter of the Raman TO band. A new formulation of the pressure scale based on this Raman mode, using physically-constrained parameters, is deduced.