Theoretical studies of structural stability at high pressure

Abstract

Theoretical methods are indispensible for the study of matter at high pressure. In the last decade the development of accurate intermolecular potentials and the methodologies in classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have greatly facililated the applications of these methods to the study of structural phase transformamtions of solids at high pressures. More recently, it has been possible to incorporate quantum mechanical effects into MD calculations. This method eliminates a great deal of empiricism. These first principles calculations have not only reproduced the experimental results for phase transformations but also provided detailed mechanisms and in some cases predicted new structures that may be found at high pressures. The success of MD calculations is illustrated through a review of our studies of pressure-induced amorphization and phase transitions in SiO2 and TiO2, and the structural memory effect in several materials. Current applications using quantum molecular dynamics on ice are discussed.