Theoretical and experimental study of CaWO4 and SrWO4 under pressure

In this paper, we combine a theoretical study of the structural phases of CaWO 4 and SrWO 4 under high pressure along with the results of angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction (ADXRD) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) measurements of both tungstates up to approximately 20 GPa. The theoretical study was performed within the ab initio framework of the density functional theory (DFT) using a plane-wave basis set and the pseudopotential scheme, with the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) for the exchange and correlation contribution to the energy. Under normal conditions, CaWO 4 and SrWO 4 crystallize in the scheelite structure. Our results show that in a hydrostatic environment, both compounds undergo a scheelite-to-fergusonite phase transition with increasing pressure. We present a comparison of the evolution of the structural parameters, equation of state, and of the features of the transition, finding an overall excellent agreement between the experimental and theoretical results.