Pressure-Driven “Molecular Metal” to “Atomic Metal” Transition in Crystalline Ga

Abstract

We present the ultrasonic study of gallium (Ga I) under high pressure up to 1.7 GPa, including the measurements of the density and elastic properties during phase transitions to Ga II and to a liquid state. The observed large drop of both bulk and shear moduli (by 30% and 55%, correspondingly) during the phase transition to Ga II, as well as the increase of the Poisson's ratio from typically "covalent" ( approximately 0.22) to "metallic" ( approximately 0.32) values, experimentally testifies to the coexistence of a molecular and metallic behavior in Ga I and to the disappearance of the "covalency" during the transition to Ga II. A high value of the pressure derivative of the bulk modulus for Ga I and the increase in the Poisson's ratio can be associated with the weakening of the covalency in compressed Ga I and considered as a precursor of the transition to normal metal.