Shock-induced phase transitions of α-Ce3Al

Abstract

A series of shock compression experiments on hexagonal α-Ce3Al have been carried out using a two-stage light gas gun. No phase transition was observed in the recovered sample shock compressed at 23.5 GPa. However, as the shock pressure was increased to 27.3 GPa, a face-centered cubic Ce3Al phase was detected in the samples recovered at ambient conditions. Furthermore, a Ce2Al phase was found in the 37.1 GPa shocked sample with a space group Fd-3m and lattice parameter a = 8.26(1) Å. These Ce-based alloys may have potential industrial applications due to the heavy-fermion related properties.

A molecular dynamics study of the role of grain size and orientation on compression of nanocrystalline Cu during shock

“…Over the last decade, MD simulations and experimental studies have been performed to explore solid-solid phase transformations in single crystals [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. For example, Kadau et al [24] identified the role of shockwave strength on structural transformations in Ga single crystals.…”

Ce 4f electronic spectrum function in Ce3Al intermetallic compound studied via a many‐body method

“…19,20 On the theoretical side, an observation that the virtual charge fluctuations in the context of Kondo model and the electron transition induced by the applied pressure in Ce 3 Al suggest that the fundamental properties could be changed by the external and internal factors. 12,16 Indeed, a first principle calculation for a similar Ce-based system has already been undertaken in previous work. 21 Theoretically, as discussed in our previous paper, 22 DFT + DMFT method could simultaneously capture the weakly, moderately, and strongly correlated strengths, and deal with the low-lying coherent and high-lying incoherent excitations within a unified framework.…”

“…Experimental measurements and theoretical calculations on the fundamental properties such as the electronic, magnetic and mechanical properties in Ce 3 Al are favorable for its potential industrial applications, 9,10 for example, metallic glass, 11,12 shape memory alloy, 9 hydrogen storage, 12 spectrometer, 13,14 and laser‐induced phase transformation 15 . Previous experimental and theoretical works demonstrate that the unique polyamorphic transition accompanying with shrinkage of the atomic volumes in Ce–Al metallic systems because of pressure‐driven electron delocalization 12,16 . Up to date, previous articles mainly focus on the magnetic properties and the heavy fermion behaviors, 6,17 however, few works has reported the electronic properties of Ce 3 Al system 6,18 .…”

Unusual energy state evolution in Ce-based metallic glass under high pressure

“…High pressure (HP) can input energy into a system without inducing an increase in the free volume and strongly affect the property of materials. 32 Some researches [33][34][35][36][37][38] have focused on the HP effect on MGs, especially the cerium based MGs owing to their low glass transition temperature (T g ) and weak bonding between atoms. [39][40][41] The crystallization, [42][43][44][45][46] amorphization, 47,48 and polyamorphism [49][50][51][52] of the Ce-based alloys under HP show their unique behaviors.…”