Depressurization amorphization of single-crystal boron carbide

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Feb 20;102(7):075505. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.075505. Epub 2009 Feb 20.

Abstract

We report depressurization amorphization of single-crystal boron carbide (B4C) investigated by in situ high-pressure Raman spectroscopy. It was found that localized amorphization of B4C takes place during unloading from high pressures, and nonhydrostatic stresses play a critical role in the high-pressure phase transition. First-principles molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the depressurization amorphization results from pressure-induced irreversible bending of C-B-C atomic chains cross-linking 12 atom icosahedra at the rhombohedral vertices.