Zircon to monazite phase transition in CeVO4

Abstract

X-ray diffraction and Raman-scattering measurements on cerium vanadate have been performed up to 12 and 16 GPa, respectively. Experiments reveal that at 5.3 GPa the onset of a pressure-induced irreversible phase transition from the zircon to the monazite structure. Beyond this pressure, diffraction peaks and Raman-active modes of the monazite phase are measured. The zircon to monazite transition in CeVO4 is distinctive among the other rare-earth orthovanadates. We also observed softening of external translational Eg and internal B2g bending modes. We attributed it to mechanical instabilities of zircon phase against the pressure-induced distortion. We additionally report lattice-dynamical and total-energy calculations which are in agreement with the experimental results. Finally, the effect of non-hydrostatic stresses on the structural sequence is studied and the equations of state of different phases are reported.

45 pages, 8 figures, 8 tables

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Cited by in corpus (8)

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• Recent progress on the characterization of the high-pressure behaviour of AVO4 orthovanadates
• High-pressure powder x-ray diffraction study of EuVO4
• Pressure-induced phase transformation in zircon-type orthovanadate SmVO4 from experiment and theory
• First-Principles Study of InVO4 under Pressure: Phase Transitions from CrVO4- to AgMnO4-Type Structure
• High-pressure characterization of multifunctional CrVO4
• PrVO${}_4$ under High Pressure: Effects on Structural, Optical and Electrical Properties
• Structural phase transition and its consequences on optical behavior of LaV${}_{1-x}$Nb${}_x$O${}_4$