Neutron diffraction study of pressure-induced phase separation of LaD

Aoki, Katsutoshi; Machida, Akihiko; Honda, Mitsunori   ; Hattori, Takanori   ; Sano, Asami   ; Watanuki, Tetsu; Katayama, Yoshinori; Komatsu, Kazuki*; Arima, Hiroshi; Otomo, Toshiya*; Tsubota, Masami*; Ichikawa, Takayuki*; Kojima, Yoshitsugu*; Oshita, Hidetoshi*; Kim, D. Y.*

Neutron diffraction measurements have revealed that LaD undergoes phase separation at high pressure with the relocation of deuterium atoms in the interstitial sites of La metal lattice. Deuterium atoms, which occupy the tetrahedral sites of the fcc metal lattice in LaD, move into the empty octahedral sites at 11 GPa to form LaD and LaD both having fcc metal lattices. Mono-hydride with an NaCl structure, which is common for mono-hydrides of transition metals, is formed in rare-earth metals for the first time. The first-principle calculations showed that LaH is stable at low pressure and it undergoes a phase separation into LaH and LaH at 10 GPa, which is excellent agreement with the experimental results. Enthalpy comparison shows that unusual volume contraction in LaH than LaH explains the phase separation phenomena. Lattice dynamics calculations on these lanthanum hydrides shed light on the detailed mechanism.