High-pressure behaviour of selenium-based spinels and related structures—an experimental and theoretical study

The high-pressure structural behaviour of the cubic spinel CdCr 2 Se 4 (space group ) and tetragonal CdGa 2 Se 4 ( ) has been investigated experimentally and theoretically in order to understand the large difference in compressibility between the two selenides. The experimental values of the bulk modulus for these compounds are 101(2) and 48(2) GPa, respectively. These values compare well with 92 and 44 GPa obtained from first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory formalism. The observed difference in compressibility between the cubic and tetragonal structures can be understood in terms of polyhedral analysis. In a hypothetical cubic spinel structure ( ), the calculated bulk modulus for CdGa 2 Se 4 is 85 GPa. This value together with the experimental and theoretical results for CdCr 2 Se 4 suggest that the selenium-based cubic spinels should have a bulk modulus about 100 GPa, which is half the value found for the oxide spinels.