Mechanical behaviors and phase transition of Ho2O3 nanocrystals under high pressure

Mechanical properties and phase transition often show quite large crystal size dependent behavior, especially at nanoscale under high pressure. Here, we have investigated Ho2O3 nanocrystals with in-situ x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy under high pressure up to 33.5 GPa. When compared to the structural transition routine cubic -> monoclinic -> hexagonal phase in bulk Ho2O3 under high pressure, the nano-sized Ho2O3 shows a much higher onset transition pressure from cubic to monoclinic structure and followed by a pressure-induced-amorphization under compression. The detailed analysis on the Q (Q = 2π/d) dependent bulk moduli reveals the nanosized Ho2O3 particles consist of a clear higher compressible shell and a less compressible core. Insight into these phenomena shed lights on micro-mechanism studies of the mechanical behavior and phase evolution for nanomaterials under high pressure, in general.