Wendan Wang

Pressure calibration for the cubic press by differential thermal analysis and the high-pressure fusion curve of aluminum

Cell pressures in the cubic press have been determined by means of differential thermal analysis (DTA) based on the known fusion curve of aluminum. The results compared favorably with those of the well-known fixed-point method, based on pressure-induced phase transitions in bismuth (I–II, 2.55 GPa) and thallium (II–III, 3.68 GPa). The high-pressure fusion curve of lead was measured using our calibrated results, which agreed well with those of the previous work. All of this was made possible by the development of a successful cell assembly for the DTA analyses in the cubic press. Details of the design are described in the present work.

Hardness and elastic moduli of high pressure synthesized MoB2 and WB2 compacts

High pressure and high temperature synthesized MoB2 and WB2 compacts were investigated using X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscope, scanning electron microscope, Vickers indentation test and ultrasonic measurements. Experiments showed that both MoB2 and WB2 compacts are phase pure and with a grain size of 100–200 nm. Vickers indentation test under a large loading force of 49 N showed that the Vickers hardness of MoB2 and WB2 are about 21 and 22 GPa, respectively. The bulk modulus and shear modulus are about 296 GPa, and 190 GPa for MoB2 and 349 and 200 GPa for WB2 through ultrasonic measurements. Our results indicate that MoB2 and WB2 are both hard materials with a hardness similar to that of tungsten carbide, which is widely used in industry.

Quantitative measurements of pressure gradients for the pyrophyllite and magnesium oxide pressure-transmitting mediums to 8 GPa in a large-volume cubic cell

Quantitative measurements of pressure gradients have been made in the pyrophyllite and magnesium oxide (MgO) pressure-transmitting mediums using large-volume cubic apparatus. The relationships of pressure gradients along the axis of symmetry of the pyrophyllite and MgO cubes versus corresponding cell pressures have been established at room temperature. Our experimental results indicated that the pressure gradients increase as the cell pressure increases and that the pressure gradient in the MgO pressure-transmitting medium is about twice as high as that in the pyrophyllite pressure-transmitting medium at the same cell pressure. When the cell pressure reaches 5.5 GPa, the pressure gradient along the axis of symmetry of the pyrophyllite cube is about 50 MPa/mm. When the cell pressure reaches 7.7 GPa, the pressure gradient along the axis of symmetry of the MgO cube is about 140 MPa/mm. The experimental data obtained in the present work not only adapt to the cubic apparatus but also provide reference for the tetrahedral press and the double-stage multi-anvil apparatus (the octahedral compression).

Note: An anvil-preformed gasket system to extend the pressure range for large volume cubic presses

An anvil-preformed gasket system has been developed to extend the pressure range for the widely used large volume cubic press without sacrificing the sample volume. The relationship of the sample chamber pressure versus press load for this system was calibrated at room temperature using transitions in Bi, Tl, and Ba. With similar sample volumes (8-11 mm in diameter and 8 mm in length), the anvil-preformed gasket system can generate pressures up to about 8.5 GPa, significantly higher than 6 GPa, which was generally the maximum pressure for the conventional anvil-gasket system. The details on the optimized design for the anvil-preformed gasket system are given in this note.

Unusual Mott transition in multiferroic PbCrO3

Significance Understanding of the insulator–metal Mott transition in correlated systems has been one of the central themes in condensed-matter physics for more than half a century. The original Mott concept of a transition mechanism has been proposed in terms of the screening of Coulomb potential at high pressures, which, however, has not yet been experimentally validated. Such a scenario, for the first time to our knowledge, is unveiled in multiferroic PbCrO3 with collapse of both the volume and Coulomb potential at high pressures, which is associated with atomic ferroelectric distortion. In addition, Mott critical behaviors, magnetic and ferroelectric properties, and the isostructural phase transition of this material are also explored. Findings in this work are fundamentally and technologically important for the study of correlated systems. The Mott insulator in correlated electron systems arises from classical Coulomb repulsion between carriers to provide a powerful force for electron localization. Turning such an insulator into a metal, the so-called Mott transition, is commonly achieved by “bandwidth” control or “band filling.” However, both mechanisms deviate from the original concept of Mott, which attributes such a transition to the screening of Coulomb potential and associated lattice contraction. Here, we report a pressure-induced isostructural Mott transition in cubic perovskite PbCrO3. At the transition pressure of ∼3 GPa, PbCrO3 exhibits significant collapse in both lattice volume and Coulomb potential. Concurrent with the collapse, it transforms from a hybrid multiferroic insulator to a metal. For the first time to our knowledge, these findings validate the scenario conceived by Mott. Close to the Mott criticality at ∼300 K, fluctuations of the lattice and charge give rise to elastic anomalies and Laudau critical behaviors resembling the classic liquid–gas transition. The anomalously large lattice volume and Coulomb potential in the low-pressure insulating phase are largely associated with the ferroelectric distortion, which is substantially suppressed at high pressures, leading to the first-order phase transition without symmetry breaking.

Enhanced hardness of CVD diamond after high pressure and high-temperature treatments

The diamond thick layers prepared using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods have been treated at high pressures and high temperatures (HP-HT). It was found that the Vickers hardness of the HP-HT treated bulks was nearly two times as high as that of the starting CVD diamond samples. The hardness of the samples treated at 8 GPa and 1800°C is ∼80 GPa at a loading force of 49 N, close to that of the single-crystal diamond (∼100 GPa). In addition, the oxidation resistance of CVD diamond samples was also enhanced greatly after HP-HT treatments, and the diamondization of sp2 bonded carbon in the CVD diamond samples could occur at 7–8 GPa and 1600–1800°C. The HP-HT conditions of diamondization in our works are much lower than the case of the graphite-to-diamond direct transformation without the presence of catalyst (>15 GPa and 2000°C).