Potassium under pressure: a pseudobinary ionic compound.
Experimentally, we have found that among the "complicated" phases of potassium at intermediate pressures is one which has the same space group as the double hexagonal-close-packed structure, although its atomic coordination is completely different. Calculations on this P6(3)/mmc (hP4) structure as a function of pressure show three isostructural transitions and three distinctive types of chemical bonding: free electron, ionic, and metallic. Interestingly, relationships between localized metallic structures and ionic compounds are found.
Marqués
M
M
SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy and Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions, The University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, United Kingdom.
Ackland
G J
GJ
Lundegaard
L F
LF
Stinton
G
G
Nelmes
R J
RJ
McMahon
M I
MI
Contreras-García
J
J