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Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 165505 (2007) [4 pages]

Pure Iron Compressed and Heated to Extreme Conditions

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A. S. Mikhaylushkin1,2, S. I. Simak2, L. Dubrovinsky3, N. Dubrovinskaia4,5, B. Johansson1,6, and I. A. Abrikosov2
1Department of Physics, Uppsala University, Box 530, SE-751 21 Uppsala, Sweden
2Theory and Modeling Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, S-581 83, Linköping, Sweden
3Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universitat Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany
4Mineralphysik und Strukturforschung, Mineralogisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
5Lehrstuhl für Kristallographie, Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
6Applied Materials Physics, Department of Materials and Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden

Received 24 November 2006; published 19 October 2007

The results of a first-principles study supported by the temperature-quenched laser-heated diamond anvil-cell experiments on the high-pressure high-temperature structural behavior of pure iron are reported. We show that in contrast to the widely accepted picture, the face-centered cubic (fcc) phase becomes as stable as the hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) phase at pressures around 300–360 GPa and temperatures around 5000–6000 K. Our temperature-quenched experiments indicate that the fcc phase of iron can exist in the pressure-temperature region above 160 GPa and 3700 K, respectively. This, in particular, means that the actual structure of the Earth’s core may be a complex phase with a large number of stacking faults.

© 2007 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.165505
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.165505
PACS:
61.50.Ks, 62.50.+p
 
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