Abstract
The interest in low- superconducting analogs to has motivated a search for new high-pressure phases in metal boride systems. Phases of LiB have electronic features intermediate between those of and intercalated graphites, and are expected to exhibit superconductivity. A previously unknown series of layered metal-sandwich structures that are suggested to form under pressure has been identified by ab initio data-mining techniques. We report on an experimental effort to search for structural changes in LiB related to the predicted novel behavior. We find that LiB, while becoming increasingly disordered, maintains its ambient pressure structure up to at least 70 GPa. At 5 GPa, however, we observe an abrupt change in the evolution of as a function of pressure, which is likely related to pressure-induced filling of Li-B bonding states.
- Received 14 August 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.82.180102
©2010 American Physical Society