Experimental and theoretical methods were employed to investigate the ambient-pressure, metastable phase transition pathways for Mg2C, which was recovered after high-pressure synthesis. We demonstrate that at temperatures above 600 K isolated C4- anions within the Mg2C structure polymerize into longer-chain carbon polyanions, resulting in the formation of the alpha-Mg2C3 (Pnnm) structure, which is another local energy minimum for the carbon-magnesium system. Access to the thermodynamic ground state (decomposition into graphite) was achieved at temperatures above similar to 1000 K. These results indicate that recoverable high-pressure materials can serve as useful high-energy precursors for ambient-pressure materials synthesis, and they show a novel mechanism for the formation of carbon chains from methanide structures.

Pressure-induced amorphization (PIA) and thermal-driven recrystallization have been observed in many crystalline materials. However, controllable switching between PIA and a metastable phase has not been described yet, due to the challenge to establish feasible switching methods to control the pressure and temperature precisely. Here, we demonstrate a reversible switching between PIA and thermally-driven recrystallization of VO2(B) nanosheets. Comprehensive in situ experiments are performed to establish the precise conditions of the reversible phase transformations, which are normally hindered but occur with stimuli beyond the energy barrier. Spectral evidence and theoretical calculations reveal the pressure-structure relationship and the role of flexible VOx polyhedra in the structural switching process. Anomalous resistivity evolution and the participation of spin in the reversible phase transition are observed for the first time. Our findings have significant implications for the design of phase switching devices and the exploration of hidden amorphous materials.

We have performed quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations and density functional theory calculations to study the equations of state of MgSiO3 perovskite (Pv, bridgmanite) and post-perovskite (PPv) up to the pressure and temperature conditions of the base of Earth's lower mantle. The ground-state energies were derived using QMC simulations and the temperature-dependent Helmholtz free energies were calculated within the quasiharmonic approximation and density functional perturbation theory. The equations of state for both phases of MgSiO3 agree well with experiments, and better than those from generalized gradient approximation calculations. The Pv-PPv phase boundary calculated from our QMC equations of state is also consistent with experiments, and better than previous local density approximation calculations. We discuss the implications for double crossing of the Pv-PPv boundary in the Earth.

Earth's magnetic field has been thought to arise from thermal convection of molten iron alloy in the outer core, but recent density functional theory calculations have suggested that the conductivity of iron is too high to support thermal convection(1-4), resulting in the investigation of chemically driven convection(5,6). These calculations for resistivity were based on electron-phonon scattering. Here we apply self-consistent density functional theory plus dynamical meanfield theory (DFT+DMFT)(7) to iron and find that at high temperatures electron-electron scattering iscomparable to the electron-phonon scattering, bringing theory into agreement with experiments and solving the transport problem in Earth's core. The conventional thermal dynamo picture is safe. We find that electron-electron scattering of d electrons is important at high temperatures in transition metals, in contrast to textbook analyses since Mott(8,9), and that 4s electron contributions to transport are negligible, in contrast to numerous models used for over fifty years. The DFT+DMFT method should be applicable to other high-temperature systems where electron correlations are important.

The thermal conductivity of the Earth's core can be estimated from its electrical resistivity via the Wiedemann-Franz law. However, previously reported resistivity values are rather scattered, mainly due to the lack of knowledge with regard to resistivity saturation (violations of the Bloch-Gruneisen law and the Matthiessen's rule). Here we conducted high-pressure experiments and first-principles calculations in order to clarify the relationship between the resistivity saturation and the impurity resistivity of substitutional silicon in hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) iron. We measured the electrical resistivity of Fe-Si alloys (iron with 1, 2, 4, 6.5, and 9 wt.% silicon) using four-terminal method in a diamond anvil cell up to 90 GPa at 300 K. We also computed the electronic band structure of substitutionally disordered hcp Fe-Si and Fe-Nialloy systems by means of Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method with coherent potential approximation (KKR-CPA). The electrical resistivity was then calculated from the Kubo-Greenwood formula. These experimental and theoretical results show excellent agreement with each other, and the first principles results show the saturation behavior at high silicon concentration. We further calculated the resistivity of Fe-Ni-Si ternary alloys and found the violation of the Matthiessen's rule as a consequence of the resistivity saturation. Such resistivity saturation has important implications for core dynamics. The saturation effect places the upper limit of the resistivity, resulting in that the total resistivity value has almost no temperature dependence. As a consequence, the core thermal conductivity has a lower bound and exhibits a linear temperature dependence. We predict the electrical resistivity at the top of the Earth's core to be 1.12 x 10(-6) Omega m, which corresponds to the thermal conductivity of 87.1 Wpm/K. Such high thermal conductivity suggests high isentropic heat flow, leading to young inner core age (<0.85 Gyr old) and high initial core temperature. It also strongly suppresses thermal convection in the core, which results in no convective motion in inner core and possibly thermally stratified layer in the outer core. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phase-pure samples of a metastable allotrope of silicon, Si-III or BC8, were synthesized by direct elemental transformation at 14 GPa and similar to 900 K and also at significantly reduced pressure in the Na-Si system at 9.5 GPa by quenching from high temperatures similar to 1000 K. Pure sintered polycrystalline ingots with dimensions ranging from 0.5 to 2 mm can be easily recovered at ambient conditions. The chemical route also allowed us to decrease the synthetic pressures to as low as 7 GPa, while pressures required for direct phase transition in elemental silicon are significantly higher. In situ control of the synthetic protocol, using synchrotron radiation, allowed us to observe the underlying mechanism of chemical interactions and phase transformations in the Na-Si system. Detailed characterization of Si-III using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Si-29 NMR spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy are discussed. These large-volume syntheses at significantly reduced pressures extend the range of possible future bulk characterization methods and applications.

Mn is used as a dopant to improve the electromechanical properties of perovskite oxides. We investigate the effects of Mn defects and associated vacancies on the electronic and atomic properties of BaTiO3. Using density functional theory (DFT) and DFT + U we investigate the equilibrium geometry and electronic properties of the Mn ion on A or B sites and with compensating oxygen vacancies. We study the change in the oxidation state of Mn in response to local environment changes, such as the presence of oxygen vacancies.

Minerals recovered from the deep mantle provide a rare glimpse into deep Earth processes. We report the first discovery of ferric iron-rich majoritic garnet found as inclusions in a host garnet within an eclogite xenolith originating in the deep mantle. The composition of the host garnet indicates an ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic origin, probably at a depth of similar to 200 km. More importantly, the ferric iron-rich majoritic garnet inclusions show a much deeper origin, at least at a depth of 380 km. The majoritic nature of the inclusions is confirmed by mineral chemistry, x-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy, and their depth of origin is constrained by a new experimental calibration. The unique relationship between the majoritic inclusions and their host garnet has important implications for mantle dynamics within the deep asthenosphere. The high ferric iron content of the inclusions provides insights into the oxidation state of the deep upper mantle.

We report an accurate study of interactions between benzene molecules using variational quantum Monte Carlo (VMC) and diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) methods. We compare these results with density functional theory using different van derWaals functionals. In our quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations, we use accurate correlated trial wave functions including three-body Jastrow factors and backflow transformations. We consider two benzene molecules in the parallel displaced geometry, and find that by highly optimizing the wave function and introducing more dynamical correlation into the wave function, we compute the weak chemical binding energy between aromatic rings accurately. We find optimal VMC and DMC binding energies of -2.3(4) and -2.7(3) kcal/mol, respectively. The best estimate of the coupled-cluster theory through perturbative triplets/complete basis set limit is -2.65(2) kcal/mol [Miliordos et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 118, 7568 (2014)]. Our results indicate that QMC methods give chemical accuracy for weakly bound van derWaals molecular interactions, comparable to results from the best quantum chemistry methods. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.