Structure of the intermediate phase of PbTe at high pressure.

G. Rousse (1) , S. Klotz (1) , A. M. Saitta (1) , J. Rodriguez-Carvajal (2) , M. I. Mcmahon (3) , B. Couzinet (1) , M. Mezouar (4)

1 IMPMC - Institut de minéralogie et de physique des milieux condensés
2 LLB - UMR 12 - Laboratoire Léon Brillouin
3 School of Physics and Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions
4 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

The evolution of PbTe with pressure has been reexamined using synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The phase transition at 6 GPa is not to the GeS (B16) or TlI (B33) type structures, as previously reported, but to an orthorhombic Pnma structure, with cell parameters a=8.157(1), b=4.492(1), and c=6.294(1)Å at 6.7 GPa. This structure corresponds to a distortion of the low-pressure NaCl structure with a coordination intermediate between the sixfold B1 (NaCl) and the eightfold B2 (CsCl) structure. We discuss the stability of this new structure with respect to other proposed phases using numerical methods. These results may modify the admitted paths of phase transitions between the B1 and B2 structures.

Mots clés: lead compounds; IV-VI semiconductors; narrow band gap semiconductors; X-ray diffraction; high-pressure solid-state phase transformations; lattice constants; crystal structure; crystal defects

G. Rousse, S. Klotz, A. M. Saitta, J. Rodriguez-Carvajal, M. I. Mcmahon, et al.. Structure of the intermediate phase of PbTe at high pressure.. Physical Review B: Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (1998-2015), 2005, 71, pp.224116. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevB.71.224116⟩. ⟨hal-00021487⟩