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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Synthesis and Microdiffraction at Extreme Pressures and Temperatures
Published on: October 7, 2013
Theoretical indications of singular structural and electronic features of Laves-phase CaLi2 under pressure
Ji Feng1, N W Ashcroft, Roald Hoffmann
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14853-1301 New York, USA.
Abstract:
In spite of the presence of ostensibly simple constituents, CaLi2 should be a very peculiar material under pressure. Its two 1-atmosphere polymorphs each undergo a structural bifurcation on densification to structures compressed or elongated in one lattice direction. A Hume-Rothery-type mechanism is proposed to account for the indicated lattice distortion. The narrowing of valence bands under pressure in this material, a large density of states at the Fermi level, and the expected high dynamical scales also hint at superconductivity.
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