A red form of solid oxygen (ε phase), formed under high pressure from 10 GPa to 96 GPa, was found in 1979. Despite many experimental and theoretical studies, the crystal structure of the ε phase has been unknown. We performed powder X-ray diffraction experiments and succeeded in analyzing its crystal structure. A unique O8 cluster that consisted of 4 oxygen molecules was discovered in the structure.
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The crystal structure of oxygen ε phase at 11 GPa. (a) its projected figure to the ab plane, (b) its projected figure to the ac plane. a,b, and c denote crystallographic axes.The intra-molecular bond length of the oxygen molecule is 0.120 nm. The intra-cluster bond length of O8 cluster (orange bar line d1) is 0.234 nm, and the inter-cluster distance (dotted line d2) is 0.266 nm.
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| Relational Information |
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AIST TODAY Vol.7, No.1 p.32-33 (2007)
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No.24 Spring 2007 [ PDF:2.1MB ]
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