Pressure-induced rocksalt phase of aluminum nitride: A metastable structure at ambient condition

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Abstract
Energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction studies were carried out on the III-V compound aluminum nitride to 65 GPa using a synchrotron x-ray source. A pressure-induced first-order phase transition from a wurtzite structure to a rocksalt structure was observed. The first peaks of the high-pressure phase appeared at 14 GPa. On further loading of the diamond anvil cell, the wurtzite peaks disappeared by 20 GPa. After unloading the cell to atmospheric pressure, the rocksalt structure persisted. The equilibrium transformation pressure lies on the interval 0–14 GPa.