Two-phase mixture of iron–nickel–silicon alloys in the Earth’s inner core

Abstract

The Earth’s inner core comprises iron-nickel alloys with light elements. However, there is no clarity on the phase properties of these alloys. Here we show phase relations and equations of state of iron–nickel and iron–nickel–silicon alloys up to 186 gigapascals and 3090 kelvin. An ordered derivative of the body-centred cubic structure (B2) phase was observed in these alloys. Results show that nickel and silicon influence the stability field associated with the two-phase mixture of B2 and hexagonal close-packed phases under core conditions. The two-phase mixture can give the inner core density of the preliminary reference Earth model. The compressional wave velocity of the two-phase mixture under inner core conditions is consistent with that of the preliminary reference Earth model. Therefore, a mixture of B2 and hexagonal close-packed phases may exist in the inner core and accounts for the seismological properties of the inner core such as density and velocity deficits.