Lattice Parameters and Volume Compressibility of Ytterbium up to 300 kbar

Abstract

The rare earth metal Ytterbium is close to the divalent State under ambient conditions. Pseudopotential calculations by Johansson et al. [1] have predicted an electronic transition towards the trivalent State under a pressure of about 120 kbar. This transition is related to the promotion of an occupied 4f level near to and above the Fermi level, and it is difficult to predict whether this transition is continuous like the γ-α transition of Ce above its tricritical point or discontinuous like the γ-α transition of Ce below its tricritical point.