Stable hexagonal ternary alloy phase in Fe-Si-H at 28.6–42.2 GPa and 3000 K

Abstract

Hydrogen (H) and silicon (Si) are considered as important light elements for the planetary cores. A large amount of H is able to alloy with pure Fe metal at high pressures. Si can also alloy well with Fe. However, it remains uncertain how much H can alloy with iron silicides and if it alloys how H can alter the crystal structures of Fe-Si alloys at high pressures-temperatures ($P\text{\ensuremath{-}}T$). We performed experiments on Fe-9Si and Fe-16Si alloys (9 and 16 wt % Si, respectively) in a H medium up to 42.2 GPa and 3000 K in diamond-anvil cells coupled with pulsed laser heating and gated synchrotron x-ray diffraction techniques. We found conversion of the Fe-Si alloys into Fe-rich (fcc and dhcp $\mathrm{Fe}{\mathrm{H}}_{x}$), Si-rich (B20 and B2 FeSi), and intermediate (${\mathrm{Fe}}_{5}{\mathrm{Si}}_{3}{\mathrm{H}}_{x}$) phases. The new ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{5}{\mathrm{Si}}_{3}{\mathrm{H}}_{x}$ phase has a structure similar to the hexagonal ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{5}{\mathrm{Si}}_{3}$ phase but with expanded volumes, and thus, possible H incorporation. Both the observed volume expansion and the H content estimated by density-functional theory calculations support a significant amount of H with H/Fe \ensuremath{\approx} 0.6 in the crystal structure. Because ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{5}{\mathrm{Si}}_{3}$ is known to break down above \ensuremath{\sim}1300 K at \ensuremath{\sim}18 GPa, our results suggest that hydrogen stabilizes the hexagonal structure at high $P\text{\ensuremath{-}}T$. These results have implications for the crystallization of Fe-rich liquid at the solid-to-liquid boundary of planetary cores and possible existence of chemical heterogeneities in the solid cores.