Zhidan Zeng

Polymorphism in a high-entropy alloy

Polymorphism, which describes the occurrence of different lattice structures in a crystalline material, is a critical phenomenon in materials science and condensed matter physics. Recently, configuration disorder was compositionally engineered into single lattices, leading to the discovery of high-entropy alloys and high-entropy oxides. For these novel entropy-stabilized forms of crystalline matter with extremely high structural stability, is polymorphism still possible? Here by employing in situ high-pressure synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction, we reveal a polymorphic transition from face-centred-cubic (fcc) structure to hexagonal-close-packing (hcp) structure in the prototype CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy. The transition is irreversible, and our in situ high-temperature synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction experiments at different pressures of the retained hcp high-entropy alloy reveal that the fcc phase is a stable polymorph at high temperatures, while the hcp structure is more thermodynamically favourable at lower temperatures. As pressure is increased, the critical temperature for the hcp-to-fcc transformation also rises.

General 2.5 power law of metallic glasses.

Significance This work establishes a general rule correlating the bulk properties [volume (V)] with atomic structure information (principal diffraction peak position q1) for metallic glasses, i.e., V∝(1/q1)2.5. It is shown that the 2.5 power law is strictly followed by any metallic glass with its volume tuned by pressure and/or composition. This general 2.5 power law is attributed to the well-constrained structure change/modification that inevitably happens during pressure and/or composition tuning of metallic glasses, which brings insight into the structure of metallic glasses. Metallic glass (MG) is an important new category of materials, but very few rigorous laws are currently known for defining its “disordered” structure. Recently we found that under compression, the volume (V) of an MG changes precisely to the 2.5 power of its principal diffraction peak position (1/q1). In the present study, we find that this 2.5 power law holds even through the first-order polyamorphic transition of a Ce68Al10Cu20Co2 MG. This transition is, in effect, the equivalent of a continuous “composition” change of 4f-localized “big Ce” to 4f-itinerant “small Ce,” indicating the 2.5 power law is general for tuning with composition. The exactness and universality imply that the 2.5 power law may be a general rule defining the structure of MGs.

Phase transitions in metastable phases of silicon

Phase transitions in indentation induced Si-III/XII phases were investigated using a diamond anvil cell and nanoindentation combined with micro-Raman spectroscopy. The in situ high pressure Raman results demonstrate that the Si-III and Si-XII phases have very similar Raman spectra, indicating their relative amount cannot be determined if they are both present in a sample. The Si-III and Si-XII phases coexist in the indentations produced by a nanoindenter on a single crystalline silicon wafer as a result of the local residual compressive stresses near 1 GPa. High power laser annealing on the indentations can initiate a rapid Si-III/XII → Si-I phase transition. The newly formed polycrystalline Si-I phase initially has very small grain size, and the grains grow when the annealing time is extended. Si-IV phase was not observed in our experiment.

The effect of composition on pressure-induced devitrification in metallic glasses

Long-range topological order (LRTO) was recently revealed in a Ce75Al25 metallic glass (MG) by a pressure-induced devitrification (PID) at 300 K. However, what compositions may have PID and an understanding of the physical and chemical controls behind PID are still not clear. We performed in situ high pressure x-ray diffraction measurements on CexAl1−x (x = 65, 70, and 80 at. %) MGs. Combining our experimental results and simulations, we found PID is very sensitive to compositions and can only exist over narrow compositional ranges. These results provide valuable guidance for searching for PID in MGs.

Synthesis of quenchable amorphous diamond

Diamond owes its unique mechanical, thermal, optical, electrical, chemical, and biocompatible materials properties to its complete sp3-carbon network bonding. Crystallinity is another major controlling factor for materials properties. Although other Group-14 elements silicon and germanium have complementary crystalline and amorphous forms consisting of purely sp3 bonds, purely sp3-bonded tetrahedral amorphous carbon has not yet been obtained. In this letter, we combine high pressure and in situ laser heating techniques to convert glassy carbon into “quenchable amorphous diamond”, and recover it to ambient conditions. Our X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy experiments on the recovered sample and computer simulations confirm its tetrahedral amorphous structure and complete sp3 bonding. This transparent quenchable amorphous diamond has, to our knowledge, the highest density among amorphous carbon materials, and shows incompressibility comparable to crystalline diamond.Diamond’s properties are dictated by its crystalline, fully tetrahedrally bonded structure. Here authors synthesize a bulk sp3-bonded amorphous form of carbon under high pressure and temperature, show that it has bulk modulus comparable to crystalline diamond and that it can be recovered under ambient conditions.

Pressure-induced elastic anomaly in a polyamorphous metallic glass

The pressure-induced transitions discovered in metallic glasses (MGs) have attracted considerable research interest offering an exciting opportunity to study polyamorphism in densely packed systems. Despite the large body of work on these systems, the elastic properties of the MGs during polyamorphic transitions remain unclear. Here, using an in situ high-pressure ultrasonic sound velocity technique integrated with x-ray radiography and x-ray diffraction in a Paris-Edinburgh cell, we accurately determined both the compressional and shear wave velocities of a polyamorphous Ce68Al10Cu20Co2 MG up to 5.8 GPa. We observed elastic anomalies of a MG with minima (at ∼1.5 GPa) in the sound velocities, bulk modulus, and Poissons ratio during its polyamorphic transition. This behavior was discussed in comparison to the elastic anomalies of silica glass and crystalline Ce.

Effects of non-hydrostaticity and grain size on the pressure-induced phase transition of the CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy

Recently, an irreversible polymorphic transition from face-centered cubic to hexagonal close-packing was surprisingly observed under high pressure in the prototype CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloys (HEAs) by various research groups. This unexpected phase transition brings new insights into the stability of HEAs, and its irreversibility stimulates exploration for new HEAs via high-pressure compression synthesis. However, the onset pressure for the phase transition was reported to fluctuate over a vast range from ∼7 to above 49 GPa in the reported experiments. The reason for this inconsistency remains unclear and puzzles the HEA community. To address this problem, this work systematically investigates the effects of non-hydrostaticity and grain size. Our results demonstrate that larger deviatoric stress induced by the non-hydrostaticity of the pressure medium and larger grain size of the initial sample can both promote a phase transition and, therefore, considerably depress the onset pressure.Recently, an irreversible polymorphic transition from face-centered cubic to hexagonal close-packing was surprisingly observed under high pressure in the prototype CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloys (HEAs) by various research groups. This unexpected phase transition brings new insights into the stability of HEAs, and its irreversibility stimulates exploration for new HEAs via high-pressure compression synthesis. However, the onset pressure for the phase transition was reported to fluctuate over a vast range from ∼7 to above 49 GPa in the reported experiments. The reason for this inconsistency remains unclear and puzzles the HEA community. To address this problem, this work systematically investigates the effects of non-hydrostaticity and grain size. Our results demonstrate that larger deviatoric stress induced by the non-hydrostaticity of the pressure medium and larger grain size of the initial sample can both promote a phase transition and, therefore, considerably depress the onset pressure.

TEM Study of Amorphous Carbon with Fully sp3-Bonded Structure

In 2011, Lin etal found that glassy carbon was converted into a new carbon allotrope with a fully sp3-bonded amorphous structure under high pressure of about 45 GPa [1]. However, the transition was reversible upon releasing pressure. Recently, Zeng etal synthesized quenchable amorphous diamond from glassy carbon with the combination of high pressure and in situ laser heating [2]. To understand the atomic structure and chemical bonding, we studied the recovered carbon materials using aberration corrected TEM and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). We confirmed that the recovered material is amorphous diamond with completely tetrahedral sp3-bonds.