Structural Stability and Phase Transitions in f-Electron Based Systems

The study of high pressure structural stability and equation of state of f-electron based binary intermetallics of type AXBY, where A belongs to either rare earth of actinide atom and B any other d or p block metal, is interesting from both basic as well as applied research point of view. These studies have lead to some general systematic patterns emerging. Firstly, the AB type of compounds in general stabilizes in NaCl type cubic structure and transform to CsCl type under the action of pressure. The AB2 type of compounds is very interesting and under pressure undergoes a series of structural transitions. However, the AB3 type systems are highly stable and do not show structural transitions under pressure up to as high as 30 GPa. We found that it is interesting and enlightening to explore: (i) the reason for their stability by examining the electronic structure and (ii) look for general trends in the structural transformations. In this paper, we have presented some of our studies on f-electron based intermetallics (f-IMCs), elaborate on the trends seen in the structural transitions and correlate the results obtained with the electronic structure calculations.