Crystal Structure of Tellurium at High Pressures

Abstract

Powder x-ray-diffraction studies on tellurium up to 150 kbar show only two structural transitions at 40 and 70 kbar in agreement with Bridgman's work. The structure of the 40–70-kbar phase is unsolved. Above 70 kbar, it is proposed that tellurium is isomorphous with β-polonium and is rhombohedral with a=3.002±15 Å, α=103.3°±3° (P=115 kbar), space group R3̄m with an atom in 1a (0, 0, 0).