Energetics and concentration of defects in Gd2Ti2O7 and Gd2Zr2O7 pyrochlore at high pressure
Using first-principles calculations and complementary experiments, the defect formation energies and defect concentrations were calculated as a function of pressure. The results show that at high pressure, the defect formation energies decrease with pressure for both systems. In Gd2Ti2O7, the dominant defect type is cation anti-site defect, the local structure around a defect is highly distorted, and the energetically favorable defect–defect interactions at shorter distance suggest the possibility of defect clustering. In Gd2Zr2O7, anion Frenkel-pair defects are favored at all pressures and the dominant defect type involving a cation is a coupled defect of a cation anti-site and an anion Frenkel-pair defect. There are only minor distortions around the defects, and the defect–defect interactions are weak, which suggests almost-ideal non-interacting defect formation. Comparison of experimentally observed defect concentrations and those based on the calculated defect formation energies suggests that the defects formed at high pressure are better estimated with a concentrated limit approximation, while those formed at ambient pressure can be evaluated at a dilute limit approximation.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Materials Science of Actinides (MSA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0001089
- OSTI ID:
- 1386656
- Journal Information:
- Acta Materialia, Vol. 59, Issue 4; Related Information: MSA partners with University of Notre Dame (lead); University of California, Davis; Florida State University; George Washington University; University of Michigan; University of Minnesota; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Oregon state University; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Savannah River National Laboratory; ISSN 1359-6454
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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