Compressibility determination by electrical resistance measurement: a universal method for both crystalline and amorphous solids

Abstract

A new method is introduced for investigating the compressibility of solids under high pressure by in situ electrical resistance measurement of a manganin wire, which is wrapped around the sample. This method does not rely on the lattice parameters measurement, and the continuous volume change of the sample versus pressure can be obtained. Therefore, it is convenient to look at the compressibility of solids, especially for the X-ray diffraction amorphous materials. The I–II and II–III phase transition of Bi accompanying with volume change of 4.5% and 3.5% has been detected using the method, respectively, while the volume change for the phase transition of Tl occurring at 3.67 GPa is determined as 0.5%. The fit of the third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state to our data yields a zero-pressure bulk modulus K ₀=28.98±0.03 GPa for NaCl and 6.97±0.02 GPa for amorphous red phosphorus.

Keywords:

• compressibility
• electrical resistance measurement
• high pressure

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the China 973 Program (Grant No. 2011CB808200), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11027405), and National Natural Science Foundation of China-NSAF (Grant No. 10976018). The authors thank Professor Yanzhang Ma, Texas Tech University for his useful discussion and advice.