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.
McMahon
M I
MI
School of Physics and Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions, The University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Nelmes
R J
RJ