The structural transition of BaF2 nanocrystals is studied by in situ high pressure synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction measurements up to about 21.2 GPa at ambient temperature. Two phase transformations were observed at 5.8 and 14.4 GPa, and the two high pressure phases are identified as orthorhombic （Pnma） phase and hexagonal （P63/mmc） phase by Rietveld refinement. Upon decompression, the 0c-PbC12-type metastable phase is retained when the pressure is released. Two phase transformations of the BaF2 nanocrystals are higher than that in bulk BaF2. It is proposed that the size effects are found to influence the BaF2 nanocrystals high-pressure behaviors and the surface energy plays a significant role in the structural stability.
We investigate the carrier behavior of HgTe under high pressures up to 23 GPa using in situ Hall effect measurements. As the phase transitions from zinc blende to cinnabar, then to rock salt, and finally to Cmcm occur, all the parameters change discontinuously. The conductivity variation under compression is described by the carrier parameters. For the zinc blende phase, both the decrease of carrier concentration and the increase of mobility indicate the overlapped valence band and conduction band separates with pressure. Pressure causes an increase in the hole concentration of HgTe in the cinnabar phase, which leads to the carrier-type inversion and the lowest mobility at 5.6 GPa. In the phase transition process from zinc blende to rock salt, Te atoms are the major ones in atomic movements in the pressure regions of 1.0-1.5 GPa and 1.8-3.1 GPa, whereas Hg atoms are the major ones in the pressure regions of 1.5-1.8 GPa and 3.1-7.7 GPa. The polar optical scattering of the rock salt phase decreases with pressure.
The in situ electrical resistance and transport activation energies of solid C60 fullerene have been measured under high pressure up to 25 GPa in the temperature range of 300-423 K by using a designed diamond anvil cell. In the experiment, four parts of boron-doped diamond films fabricated on one anvil were used as electrical measurement probes and a W-Ta thin film thermocouple which was integrated on the other diamond anvil was used to measure the temperature. The current results indicate that the measured high-pressure resistances are bigger than those reported before at the same pressure and there is no pressure-independent resistance increase before 8 GPa. From the temperature dependence of the resistivity, the C60 behaviors as a semiconductor and the activation energies of the cubic C60 fullerene are 0,49, 0.43, and 0.36 eV at 13, 15, and 19 GPa, respectively.
