Eunja Kim, PhD : Research Interests



Phase transition of Xe solid under pressure : We resolve the long-standing issue of the mechanism for pressure driven structural transformation in xenon based on first principles calculations in close comparison with recent experiment. We show that the transformation from face-centered-cubic (fcc) to hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) phase has a dual mechanism. It first goes through a sluggish stacking disorder growth (SDG) pathway up to 25 GPa and then switches to a pathway involving an intermediate face-centered-orthorhombic (fco) phase. The fco Xe satisfies both the symmetry constraints imposed by the fcc and hcp phases and structural constraints imposed by the experimental x-ray and volume compression data. Enthalpy calculations provide a quantitative account for the fcc-to-hcp transformation that starts around 5 GPa and completes around 70 GPa and reveal an fcc-to-fco transformation around 25 GPa.

E. Kim et al., , Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 035504 (2006).



Back to list of Research Interests




Publications | Contact | Links | Home

Eunja Kim, University of Nevada Las Vegas
kimej AT physics.unlv.edu

Last update: January 29, 2005