Strain stiffening, high load-invariant hardness, and electronic anomalies of boron phosphide under pressure

Gui，Rui1; Xue，Zhe2; Zhou，Xuefeng1; Gu，Chao1; Ren，Xiangting1; Cheng，Hu1; Ma，Dejiang1; Qin，Jiaqian1,3; Liang，Yongcheng1,4; Yan，Xiaozhi1; Zhang，Jianzhong5; Zhang，Xinyu2; Yu，Xiaohui6; Wang，Liping1; Zhao，Yusheng1; Wang，Shanmin1

2020-01-15

10.1103/PhysRevB.101.035302

PHYSICAL REVIEW B   影响因子和分区

2469-9950

2469-9969

New refractory hard materials with a favorable band gap are in high demand for the next-generation semiconductors capable of withstanding high temperature and other hostile environments. Boron phosphide (BP) is such an attractive candidate with exceptional properties; however, it has mainly been studied theoretically because of the difficulty in sample preparation. In this work, we report successful synthesis of large millimeter-sized single-crystal BP. The final product has a zinc-blende structure with a unique electronic structure and is optically transparent with a moderate band gap of ∼2.1 eV. Our experiments, in conjunction with ab initio simulations, reveal that the compound exhibits extraordinary strain stiffening and unusually high load-invariant hardness of ∼38 (3) GPa, which is close to the 40-GPa threshold for superhard materials, making BP the hardest among all known semiconductors. Based on the first-principles calculations, the fracture mechanisms in BP under tensile and shear deformations can be attributed to the formation of a metastable hexagonal phase. Further spectroscopic measurements indicate that an unusual electronic transition occurs at high pressures of ∼13 GPa, resulting in an asymptotically enhanced covalent bonding state. The pressure dependence of multiphonon processes is also determined by Raman measurement. In addition, our studies suggest a phonon-assisted photoluminescence process and evidence for the photon-pumped étalon effect at 707 nm.

SCI ; EI

英语

第一

Guangdong Innovative and Entrepreneurial Research Team Program[2016ZT06C279] ; Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality[] ; Shenzhen Peacock Plan[] ; [2018KZDXM062]

Materials Science ; Physics

Materials Science, Multidisciplinary ; Physics, Applied ; Physics, Condensed Matter

WOS:000507509700002

American Physical Society

20200508093913

Calculations ; Electronic structure ; Hardness ; III-V semiconductors ; Single crystals ; Zinc sulfide

Inorganic Compounds:804.2 ; Mathematics:921 ; Crystalline Solids:933.1 ; Materials Science:951

PHYSICS

2-s2.0-85078350967

Scopus

1.Department of Physics,SUSTech Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen, Guangdong,518055,China
2.State Key Lab of Metastable Materials Science and Technology,Yanshan University,Qinhuangdao,066004,China
3.Metallurgy and Materials Science Research Institute,Chulalongkorn University,Bangkok,10330,Thailand
4.College of Science,Donghua University,Shanghai,201620,China
5.Materials Science and Technology Division,Los Alamos National Laboratory,Los Alamos,87545,United States
6.Institute of Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing,100190,China

Gui，Rui,Xue，Zhe,Zhou，Xuefeng,et al. Strain stiffening, high load-invariant hardness, and electronic anomalies of boron phosphide under pressure[J]. PHYSICAL REVIEW B,2020,101(3).

Gui，Rui.,Xue，Zhe.,Zhou，Xuefeng.,Gu，Chao.,Ren，Xiangting.,...&Wang，Shanmin.(2020).Strain stiffening, high load-invariant hardness, and electronic anomalies of boron phosphide under pressure.PHYSICAL REVIEW B,101(3).

Gui，Rui,et al."Strain stiffening, high load-invariant hardness, and electronic anomalies of boron phosphide under pressure".PHYSICAL REVIEW B 101.3(2020).