Pressure-Induced Structural Phase Transition and Metallization of CrCl3 under Different Hydrostatic Environments up to 50.0 GPa.

Abstract

High-pressure structural, vibrational, and electrical transport properties of CrCl3 were investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy, electrical conductivity, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy under different hydrostatic environments using the diamond anvil cell in conjunction with the first-principles theoretical calculations up to 50.0 GPa. The isostructural phase transition of CrCl3 occurred at 9.9 GPa under nonhydrostatic conditions. As pressure was increased up to 29.8 GPa, CrCl3 underwent an electronic topological transition accompanied by a metallization transformation due to the discontinuities in the Raman scattering and electrical conductivity, which is possibly belonging to a typical first-order metallization phase transition as deduced from first-principles theoretical calculations. As for the hydrostatic condition, a ∼2.0 GPa pressure delay in the occurrence of two corresponding transformations of CrCl3 was observed owing to the different deviatoric stress. Upon decompression, we found that the phase transformation from the metal to semiconductor in CrCl3 is of good reversibility, and the obvious pressure hysteresis effect is observed under different hydrostatic environments. All of the obtained results on the structural, vibrational, and electrical transport characterizations of CrCl3 under high pressure can provide a new insight into the high-pressure behaviors of representative chromium trihalides CrX3 (X = Br and I) under different hydrostatic environments.