Pressure-Induced Structural Phase Transition and Metallization in Ga2Se3 Up to 40.2 GPa under Non-Hydrostatic and Hydrostatic Environments

Abstract

A series of investigations on the structural, vibrational, and electrical transport characterizations for Ga2Se3 were conducted up to 40.2 GPa under different hydrostatic environments by virtue of Raman scattering, electrical conductivity, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Upon compression, Ga2Se3 underwent a phase transformation from the zinc-blende to NaCl-type structure at 10.6 GPa under non-hydrostatic conditions, which was manifested by the disappearance of an A mode and the noticeable discontinuities in the pressure-dependent Raman full width at half maximum (FWHMs) and electrical conductivity. Further increasing the pressure to 18.8 GPa, the semiconductor-to-metal phase transition occurred in Ga2Se3, which was evidenced by the high-pressure variable-temperature electrical conductivity measurements. However, the higher structural transition pressure point of 13.2 GPa was detected for Ga2Se3 under hydrostatic conditions, which was possibly related to the protective influence of the pressure medium. Upon decompression, the phase transformation and metallization were found to be reversible but existed in the large pressure hysteresis effect under different hydrostatic environments. Systematic research on the high-pressure structural and electrical transport properties for Ga2Se3 would be helpful to further explore the crystal structure evolution and electrical transport properties for other A2B3-type compounds.