Chain "melting" in the composite Rb-IV structure.
The Bragg peaks from the structure formed by the guest chains in the incommensurate composite structure of Rb-IV are all found to broaden strongly at pressures below 16.7(1) GPa. This signals a loss of the interchain correlation. At the lowest reachable pressure before the transition to Rb-III, 16.2 GPa, the correlation length is only approximately 30 A, or 4 times the interchain distance. There is also evidence of a loss of long-range order within each chain. The chains thus exhibit the onset of the characteristics of an ordered 1D liquid.
School of Physics and Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions, The University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, Scotland, United Kingdom.
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Nelmes