Characterization and decomposition of the natural van der Waals SnSb2Te4 under compression

DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c01086

Authors: Juan A. Sans (Universitat Politècnica de València) , Rosario Vilaplana (Universitat Politècnica de València) , E. Lora Da Silva (Universitat Politècnica de València) , Catalin Popescu (ALBA-CELLS) , Vanesa P. Cuenca-Gotor (Universitat Politècnica de València) , Adrián Andrada-Chacón (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) , Javier Sánchez-Benitez (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) , Oscar Gomis (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia) , André L. J. Pereira (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia) , Plácida Rodríguez-Hernández (Universidad de La Laguna) , Alfonso Muñoz (Universidad de La Laguna) , Dominik Daisenberger (Diamond Light Source) , Braulio Garcia-Domene (Universidad de Valencia) , Alfredo Segura (Universidad de Valencia) , Daniel Errandonea (Universidad de Valencia) , Ravhi S. Kumar (University of Illinois at Chicago) , Oliver Oeckler (Universitaẗ Leipzig) , Philipp Urban (Universitaẗ Leipzig) , Julia Contreras-Garcia (CNRS, UMR 7616) , Francisco J. Manjón (Politec̀nica de Valeǹcia)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Inorganic Chemistry

State: Published (Approved)
Published: July 2020

Abstract: High pressure X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and electrical measurements, together with theoretical calculations, which include the analysis of the topological electron density and electronic localization function, evidence the presence of an isostructural phase transition around 2 GPa, a Fermi resonance around 3.5 GPa, and a pressure-induced decomposition of SnSb2Te4 into the high-pressure phases of its parent binary compounds (α-Sb2Te3 and SnTe) above 7 GPa. The internal polyhedral compressibility, the behavior of the Raman-active modes, the electrical behavior, and the nature of its different bonds under compression have been discussed and compared with their parent binary compounds and with related ternary materials. In this context, the Raman spectrum of SnSb2Te4 exhibits vibrational modes that are associated but forbidden in rocksalt-type SnTe; thus showing a novel way to experimentally observe the forbidden vibrational modes of some compounds. Here, some of the bonds are identified with metavalent bonding, which were already observed in their parent binary compounds. The behavior of SnSb2Te4 is framed within the extended orbital radii map of BA2Te4 compounds, so our results pave the way to understand the pressure behavior and stability ranges of other “natural van der Waals” compounds with similar stoichiometry.

Journal Keywords: Deformation; Chemical structure; Compression; Compressibility; Cations

Subject Areas: Chemistry, Materials


Instruments: I15-Extreme Conditions

Other Facilities: ALBA

Added On: 13/07/2020 10:39

Discipline Tags:

Hard condensed matter - electronic properties Molecular Physics Physics Chemistry Materials Science Inorganic Chemistry

Technical Tags:

Diffraction High-Pressure X-ray Diffraction (HP-XRD)