Crystalline and amorphous states in Zn-Sb and Cd-Sb alloys at high pressure

The structures of Zn-Sb and Cd-Sb alloys at high pressures up to 15 GPa are investigated by means of a diamond anvil. It is shown that the equiatomic compounds ZnSb and CdSb decompose at elevated pressures with the formation of a new high-pressure phase containing ∼60 at. % Sb with segregation of any Zn or Cd in excess with respect to antimony. The high-pressure phase has a simple hexagonal structure. Plots of the pressure dependence of the volume, the lattice parameters, and the axis ratio c/a are constructed for the phase in the Cd-Sb system. It is shown that the alloys amorphize when the load is removed.