High-Pressure NiAs-Type Modification of FeN

Abstract

The combination of laser-heated diamond anvil cells and synchrotron Mössbauer source spectroscopy were used to investigate high-temperature high-pressure chemical reactions of iron and iron nitride Fe2N with nitrogen. At pressures between 10 and 45 GPa, significant magnetic hyperfine splitting indicated compound formation after annealing at 1300 K. Subsequent in situ X-ray diffraction reveals a new modification of FeN with NiAs-type crystal structure, as also rationalized by first-principles total-energy and chemical-bonding studies.