1. Probing the Electronic Band Gap of Solid Hydrogen by Inelastic X-Ray Scattering up to 90 GPa
- Author
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Zhenhai Yu, Cheng Ji, Lin Wang, Wenge Yang, Junyue Wang, Wendy L. Mao, Yang Ding, Ho-kwang Mao, Jiuhua Chen, Duck Young Kim, Ke Yang, Bing Li, Jinfu Shu, Guoyin Shen, Paul Chow, Tsu-Chien Weng, and Yuming Xiao
- Subjects
Range (particle radiation) ,Materials science ,Hydrogen ,Scattering ,Dynamic structure factor ,X-ray ,General Physics and Astronomy ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Synchrotron radiation ,01 natural sciences ,chemistry ,Solid hydrogen ,0103 physical sciences ,Atomic physics ,010306 general physics ,Energy (signal processing) - Abstract
Metallization of hydrogen as a key problem in modern physics is the pressure-induced evolution of the hydrogen electronic band from a wide-gap insulator to a closed gap metal. However, due to its remarkably high energy, the electronic band gap of insulating hydrogen has never before been directly observed under pressure. Using high-brilliance, high-energy synchrotron radiation, we developed an inelastic x-ray probe to yield the hydrogen electronic band information in situ under high pressures in a diamond-anvil cell. The dynamic structure factor of hydrogen was measured over a large energy range of 45 eV. The electronic band gap was found to decrease linearly from 10.9 to 6.57 eV, with an 8.6 times densification ($\ensuremath{\rho}/{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{0}\ensuremath{\sim}8.6$) from zero pressure up to 90 GPa.
- Published
- 2020