The influence of high pressure on the solidification of supercooled Se melt

Abstract

Under pressures between 1.75 and 8 GPa a supercooling of Se melt and an average grain size of the samples quenched under pressure with constant cooling rate 100 K/s were measured. In framework of the classic theory of nucleation and grain growth the numerical evaluation of surface tension and activation energy of crystal growth was performed. The comparison of properties of supercooled Se melt to that of Pb and In reveals anomalies on the pressure dependences of Se melt properties.

This circumstance is discussed in connection with the semiconductor-metal transition discovered earlier in Se melt.

Key Words:

• Liquid selenium
• undercooling
• grain size
• high pressure
• metallization
• viscosity.