High-pressure monoclinic-monoclinic transition in fergusonite-type HoNbO4

Monoclinic-triclinic phase transition induced by pressure in fergusonite-type YbNbO4

We have carried out a high-pressure study on monoclinic fergusonite-type YbNbO₄. Synchrotron powder x-ray diffraction experiments and density-functional theory simulations have been performed. We found a gradual increase of symmetry under compression, with calculations predicting a second-order monoclinic-tetragonal transition at 15 GPa. However, experiments provided evidence of a transition at 11.6 GPa to a triclinic structure, described by space groupP1¯. The appearance of the triclinic phase, which according to calculations is dynamically unstable under hydrostatic conditions, seems to be related to the presence of non-hydrostatic stresses. The triclinic high-pressure phase remains stable up to 31.9 GPa and the phase transition is not reversible. We have determined the pressure dependence of unit-cell parameters of both phases and calculated their room-temperature equation of state. For the fergusonite-phase we have also obtained the isothermal compressibility tensor. In addition to the high-pressure studies, we report ambient-pressure Raman and infrared spectroscopy measurements which have been compared with density-functional theory calculations.

Pressure driven structural phase transition in EuTaO4: experimental and first principles investigations

In this article we report the synthesis, characterization and high pressure (HP) investigation on technologically important, rare earth orthotantalate, EuTaO₄. Single phase polycrystalline sample of EuTaO₄has been synthesized by solid state reaction method adopting monoclinic M'-type fergusonite phase with space groupP2/c. Structural and vibrational properties of as synthesized compound are investigated using synchrotron based x-ray powder diffraction, and Raman spectroscopic techniques respectively. Both the techniques show presence of an isostructural, first order, reversible phase transition near 17 GPa. Bulk modulus obtained by fitting the experimental pressure volume data for low pressure and HP phase is 136.0(3) GPa and 162.8(21) GPa. HP phase is accompanied by an increase in coordination number around Ta atom from 6 to 8. First principles calculations under the frame work of density functional theory also predicts the isostructural phase transition and change in coordination around Ta atom, corroborating the experimental findings.

Insights into the structural variations in SmNb1-xTaxO4 and HoNb1-xTaxO4 combined experimental and computational studies

The impact of Ta doping on two orthoniobates SmNbO4 and HoNbO4 has been studied using a combination of high-resolution powder diffraction and Density-Functional Theory calculations. In both ANb1-xTaxO4 (A = Sm, Ho) series the unit cell volume decreases as the Ta content increased demonstrating that the effective ionic radii of Ta is smaller than that of Nb in this structure. The average Sm-O distance and volume of the SmO8 polyhedra were invariant of the Ta content across the SmNb1-xTaxO4 solid solution whereas the average M-O (M = Nb or Ta) distance and MO6 polyhedral volume decrease with Ta doping. The analogous Ho oxides HoNb1-xTaxO4 do not form a complete solid solution when the samples were prepared at 1400 °C, rather there is a miscibility gap around x = 0.95, with HoTaO4 exhibiting the M'-type P2/c structure rather than the M-type I2/a structure of HoNbO4. Increasing the synthesis temperature to 1450 °C eliminates the miscibility gap. The energy difference between the P2/c and I2/a structures of HoTaO4 is found to be nearly 30 meV per f.u. with the total energy of the P2/c phase of HoTaO4 being more negative. First-principles calculations, carried out using Density-Functional Theory, reveal significant covalent character in the Nb-O bonds, which is reduced in the corresponding tantalates. Anisotropy in the Born Effective Charge tensors demonstrates the impact of the long M-O bond identified in the structural studies showing that the Nb and Ta cations are effectively six-coordinate. The similarity in the frequency of the intense Raman peak near 800 cm-1 due to the symmetric stretching of the Ta-O bonds is consistent with the description of that both polymorphs of HoTaO4 contain TaO6 octahedra.