Transparent dense sodium

Yanming Ma (), Mikhail Eremets, Artem R. Oganov, Yu Xie, Ivan Trojan, Sergey Medvedev, Andriy O. Lyakhov, Mario Valle and Vitali Prakapenka
Additional contact information
Yanming Ma: National Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University
Mikhail Eremets: Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Postfach 3060, 55020 Mainz, Germany
Artem R. Oganov: Laboratory of Crystallography, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 10, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Yu Xie: National Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University
Ivan Trojan: Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Postfach 3060, 55020 Mainz, Germany
Sergey Medvedev: Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Postfach 3060, 55020 Mainz, Germany
Andriy O. Lyakhov: Laboratory of Crystallography, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 10, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Mario Valle: Data Analysis and Visualization Services, Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS), Cantonale Galleria 2, 6928 Manno, Switzerland
Vitali Prakapenka: Consortium for Advanced Radiation Sources, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 458, issue 7235, 182-185

Abstract: Li and Na show resistance Putting solids under pressure reduces the distances between their atoms, and at extremely high pressures, as electron density increases, all materials approach an ideal metal. Under pressure, then, 'simple' metals such as lithium and sodium might be expected to become increasingly better conductors. But about 10 years ago, calculations suggested that neither element responds in such a straightforward manner. Instead, it was predicted that the alkali atoms would form pairs under pressure and yield more complex structures with insulating properties. Two groups in this issue present experimental confirmation that this is the case; lithium and sodium become not more metal-like but less metal-like as pressure is applied. Ma et al. find that under about fivefold compression (200 GPa pressure), sodium transforms into a dense insulating material that is optically transparent and lacks a metallic sheen. Takahiro Matsuoka and Katsuya Shimizu show that lithium transforms from a metal to a semiconductor at twofold compression (80 GPa).

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07786

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