Two good metals make a semiconductor: A potassium-nickel compound under pressure

Adebayo A. Adeleke, Elissaios Stavrou, Adebayo O. Adeniyi, Biao Wan, Huiyang Gou, and Yansun Yao
Phys. Rev. B 102, 134120 – Published 29 October 2020
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Abstract

We predict a potassium-nickel intermetallic compound K2Ni at high pressure and identify it as the long-sought structure of the only known K-Ni compound to date [Parker et al., Science 273, 95 (1996)]. Although both constituent elements are metallic, K2Ni exhibits a semiconducting ground state with an indirect band gap of 0.65 eV. Electron instability due to the degeneracy at the Fermi level arises from the particular motif of the structure, which in turn induces symmetry-breaking Peierls distortion and a nonmetallic ground state. The results indicate that the chemical properties of elements can change dramatically under extreme conditions and have significant implications for the postulation that potassium is incorporated in Earth's core.

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  • Received 28 February 2020
  • Revised 10 October 2020
  • Accepted 13 October 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.102.134120

©2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Adebayo A. Adeleke1, Elissaios Stavrou2, Adebayo O. Adeniyi1, Biao Wan3,4, Huiyang Gou3, and Yansun Yao1,*

  • 1Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5E2
  • 2Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Livermore, California 94550, USA
  • 3Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, Beijing 100094, China
  • 4State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China

  • *yansun.yao@usask.ca

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Issue

Vol. 102, Iss. 13 — 1 October 2020

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