Pulse laser induced graphite-to-diamond phase transition: the role of quantum electronic stress

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Abstract

First-principles calculations show that the pulse laser induced graphite-to-diamond phase transition is related to the lattice stress generated by the excited carriers, termed as “quantum electronic stress (QES)”. We found that the excited carriers in graphite generate a large anisotropic QES that increases linearly with the increasing carrier density. Using the QES as a guiding parameter, structural relaxation spontaneously transforms the graphite phase into the diamond phase, as the QES is reduced and minimized. Our results suggest that the concept of QES can be generally applied as a good measure to characterize the pulse laser induced phase transitions, in analogy to pressure induced phase transitions.

Keywords

graphite quantum electronic stress phase transition 

PACS number(s)

64.70.Nd 81.05.Uw 71.35.-y 
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Copyright information

© Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum PhysicsUniversity of Science and Technology of ChinaHefeiChina
  2. 2.Department of Materials Science and EngineeringUniversity of UtahSalt Lake CityUSA
  3. 3.Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum MatterBeijingChina

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