Z methodology for phase diagram studies: platinum and tantalum as examples

Ab Initio Phase Diagram of Chromium to 2.5 TPa

Chromium possesses remarkable physical properties such as hardness and corrosion resistance. Chromium is also a very important geophysical material as it is assumed that lighter Cr isotopes were dissolved in the Earth’s molten core during the planet’s formation, which makes Cr one of the main constituents of the Earth’s core. Unfortunately, Cr has remained one of the least studied 3d transition metals. In a very recent combined experimental and theoretical study (Anzellini et al., Scientific Reports, 2022), the equation of state and melting curve of chromium were studied to 150 GPa, and it was determined that the ambient body-centered cubic (bcc) phase of crystalline Cr remains stable in the whole pressure range considered. However, the importance of the knowledge of the physical properties of Cr, specifically its phase diagram, necessitates further study of Cr to higher pressure. In this work, using a suite of ab initio quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations based on the Z methodology which combines both direct Z method for the simulation of melting curves and inverse Z method for the calculation of solid–solid phase transition boundaries, we obtain the theoretical phase diagram of Cr to 2.5 TPa. We calculate the melting curves of the two solid phases that are present on its phase diagram, namely, the lower-pressure bcc and the higher-pressure hexagonal close-packed (hcp) ones, and obtain the equation for the bcc-hcp solid–solid phase transition boundary. We also obtain the thermal equations of state of both bcc-Cr and hcp-Cr, which are in excellent agreement with both experimental data and QMD simulations. We argue that 2180 K as the value of the ambient melting point of Cr which is offered by several public web resources (“Wikipedia,” “WebElements,” “It’s Elemental,” etc.) is most likely incorrect and should be replaced with 2135 K, found in most experimental studies as well as in the present theoretical work.

Characterization of the high-pressure and high-temperature phase diagram and equation of state of chromium

The high-pressure and high-temperature phase diagram of chromium has been investigated both experimentally (in situ), using a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell technique coupled with synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction, and theoretically, using ab initio density-functional theory simulations. In the pressure-temperature range covered experimentally (up to 90 GPa and 4500 K, respectively) only the solid body-centred-cubic and liquid phases of chromium have been observed. Experiments and computer calculations give melting curves in agreement with each other that can both be described by the Simon-Glatzel equation [Formula: see text]. In addition, a quasi-hydrostatic equation of state at ambient temperature has been experimentally characterized up to 131 GPa and compared with the present simulations. Both methods give very similar third-order Birch-Murnaghan equations of state with bulk moduli of 182-185 GPa and respective pressure derivatives of 4.74-5.15. According to the present calculations, the obtained melting curve and equation of state are valid up to at least 815 GPa, at which pressure the melting temperature is 9310 K. Finally, from the obtained results, it was possible to determine a thermal equation of state of chromium valid up to 65 GPa and 2100 K.

Ab initiophase diagram of silver

Silver has been considered as one of the simple one-phase materials that do not exhibit high pressure or high temperature polymorphism. The solid phase of Ag at ambient conditions is face-centered cubic (fcc) one. However, very recently another solid phase of silver, body-centered cubic (bcc) one, was detected in shock-wave (SW) experiments, and a more sophisticated phase diagram of Ag with the two solid phases was published by Smirnov. In this work, using a suite ofab initioquantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations based on the Z methodology which combines both direct Z method for the simulation of melting curves and inverse Z method for the calculation of solid-solid phase boundaries, we refine the phase diagram of Smirnov. We calculate the melting curves of both fcc-Ag and bcc-Ag and obtain an equation for the fcc-bcc solid-solid phase transition boundary. We also obtain the thermal equation of state of Ag which is in agreement with experimental data and QMD simulations. We argue that, despite being a polymorphic rather than a simple one-phase material, silver can be considered as an SW standard.

Ab Initio Phase Diagram of Copper

Copper has been considered as a common pressure calibrant and equation of state (EOS) and shock wave (SW) standard, because of the abundance of its highly accurate EOS and SW data, and the assumption that Cu is a simple one-phase material that does not exhibit high pressure (P) or high temperature (T) polymorphism. However, in 2014, Bolesta and Fomin detected another solid phase in molecular dynamics simulations of the shock compression of Cu, and in 2017 published the phase diagram of Cu having two solid phases, the ambient face-centered cubic (fcc) and the high-PT body-centered cubic (bcc) ones. Very recently, bcc-Cu has been detected in SW experiments, and a more sophisticated phase diagram of Cu with the two solid phases was published by Smirnov. In this work, using a suite of ab initio quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations based on the Z methodology, which combines both direct Z method for the simulation of melting curves and inverse Z method for the calculation of solid–solid phase boundaries, we refine the phase diagram of Smirnov. We calculate the melting curves of both fcc-Cu and bcc-Cu and obtain an equation for the fcc-bcc solid–solid phase transition boundary. We also obtain the thermal EOS of Cu, which is in agreement with experimental data and QMD simulations. We argue that, despite being a polymorphic rather than a simple one-phase material, copper remains a reliable pressure calibrant and EOS and SW standard.

Topological Equivalence of the Phase Diagrams of Molybdenum and Tungsten

We demonstrate the topological equivalence of the phase diagrams of molybdenum (Mo) and tungsten (W), Group 6B partners in the periodic table. The phase digram of Mo to 800 GPa from our earlier work is now extended to 2000 GPa. The phase diagram of W to 2500 GPa is obtained using a comprehensive ab initio approach that includes (i) the calculation of the T = 0 free energies (enthalpies) of different solid structures, (ii) the quantum molecular dynamics simulation of the melting curves of different solid structures, (iii) the derivation of the analytic form for the solid–solid phase transition boundary, and (iv) the simulations of the solidification of liquid W into the final solid states on both sides of the solid–solid phase transition boundary in order to confirm the corresponding analytic form. For both Mo and W, there are two solid structures confirmed to be present on their phase diagrams, the ambient body-centered cubic (bcc) and the high-pressure double hexagonal close-packed (dhcp), such that at T = 0 the bcc–dhcp transition occurs at 660 GPa in Mo and 1060 GPa in W. In either case, the transition boundary has a positive slope d T / d P .

Generalization of the Unified Analytic Melt-Shear Model to Multi-Phase Materials: Molybdenum as an Example

The unified analytic melt-shear model that we introduced a decade ago is generalized to multi-phase materials. A new scheme for calculating the values of the model parameters for both the cold ( T = 0 ) shear modulus ( G ) and the melting temperature at all densities ( ρ ) is developed. The generalized melt-shear model is applied to molybdenum, a multi-phase material with a body-centered cubic (bcc) structure at low ρ which loses its dynamical stability with increasing pressure (P) and is therefore replaced by another (dynamically stable) solid structure at high ρ . One of the candidates for the high- ρ structure of Mo is face-centered cubic (fcc). The model is compared to (i) our ab initio results on the cold shear modulus of both bcc-Mo and fcc-Mo as a function of ρ , and (ii) the available theoretical results on the melting of bcc-Mo and our own quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations of one melting point of fcc-Mo. Our generalized model of G ( ρ , T ) is used to calculate the shear modulus of bcc-Mo along its principal Hugoniot. It predicts that G of bcc-Mo increases with P up to ∼240 GPa and then decreases at higher P. This behavior is intrinsic to bcc-Mo and does not require the introduction of another solid phase such as Phase II suggested by Errandonea et al. Generalized melt-shear models for Ta and W also predict an increase in G followed by a decrease along the principal Hugoniot, hence this behavior may be typical for transition metals with ambient bcc structure that dynamically destabilize at high P. Thus, we concur with the conclusion reached in several recent papers (Nguyen et al., Zhang et al., Wang et al.) that no solid-solid phase transition can be definitively inferred on the basis of sound velocity data from shock experiments on Mo. Finally, our QMD simulations support the validity of the phase diagram of Mo suggested by Zeng et al.

Melting curve of SiO2 at multimegabar pressures: implications for gas giants and super-Earths

Ultrahigh-pressure phase boundary between solid and liquid SiO₂ is still quite unclear. Here we present predictions of silica melting curve for the multimegabar pressure regime, as obtained from first principles molecular dynamics simulations. We calculate the melting temperatures from three high pressure phases of silica (pyrite-, cotunnite-, and Fe₂P-type SiO₂) at different pressures using the Z method. The computed melting curve is found to rise abruptly around 330 GPa, an increase not previously reported by any melting simulations. This is in close agreement with recent experiments reporting the α-PbO₂–pyrite transition around this pressure. The predicted phase diagram indicates that silica could be one of the dominant components of the rocky cores of gas giants, as it remains solid at the core of our Solar System’s gas giants. These results are also relevant to model the interior structure and evolution of massive super-Earths.