On the effect of the cubic anharmonicity of the interatomic interaction on the low-temperature phase of a peierls system

The low-temperature phase of a Peierls system is studied theoretically taking into account the cubic anharmonicity of the interatomic interaction. It is shown that at a transition into the semiconductor phase a uniform deformation of the system occurs simultaneously with the atoms approaching one another in pairs. The cubic anharmonicity of the interatomic interaction (with a negative anharmonicity constant) produces a large increase in the band gap in the electronic spectrum and the order parameters—the reduced amplitude of the static phonon at the edge of the Brillouin zone and the relative uniform deformation of the atomic chain—of the metal-semiconductor phase transition. An interpretation of the experimental data on the metal-semiconductor phase transition in vanadium dioxide is given on the basis of the results obtained.