Superhard Monoclinic Polymorph of Carbon
We report a novel phase of carbon possessing a monoclinic C2/m structure (8 atoms/cell) identified using an ab initio evolutionary structural search. This polymorph, which we call M-carbon, is related to the (2x1) reconstruction of the (111) surface of diamond and can also be viewed as a distorted (through sliding and buckling of the sheets) form of graphite. It is stable over cold-compressed graphite above 13.4 GPa. The simulated x-ray diffraction pattern and near K-edge spectroscopy are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data [W.L. Mao et al., Science 302, 425 (2003)] on overcompressed graphite. The hardness and bulk modulus of this new carbon polymorph are calculated to be 83.1 and 431.2 GPa, respectively, which are comparable to those of diamond.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 1005596
- Journal Information:
- Phys. Rev. Lett., Vol. 102, Issue (17) ; 2009; ISSN 0031-9007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
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