Structure and dynamics of high-pressure Na close to the melting line: Anab initiomolecular dynamics study

Abstract

The melting curve of sodium for a pressure range up to 100 GPa has been evaluated by the orbital free ab initio molecular dynamics method. This method uses the electronic density as the basic variable combined with an approximate electronic kinetic energy functional and a local ionic pseudopotential and makes it possible to perform simulations with a large number of particles and for long simulation times. The calculated melting curve shows a maximum melting temperature at a pressure around 30 GPa followed by a steep decrease up to 100 GPa. For various pressures and temperatures we have evaluated several static properties, including average and local structure, electronic properties, like the electron localization function (ELF), and dynamic properties, both single-particle and collective ones, from which some transport coefficients are deduced. Despite the accurate reproduction of the available experimental data, we do not observe any indication of an early transition from a bcc-like to an fcc-like liquid, as suggested previously by other authors, but rather pressure-induced change in the variation of icosahedral-like order and bcc-like order, with no sign of fcc-like structures in the whole liquid range studied. We also consider the evolution of the ELF within this type of local arrangement upon pressurization. In the dynamic realm, we find an enlarged wave-vector region where atomic collisions play an important role in the dynamic properties of the system as pressure is increased and temperature decreased along the melting line, leading to a peculiar behavior of the dynamic properties.