采用基于密度泛函理论的平面波赝势方法,研究了沿[001]方向单轴应变条件下Fe从体心立方结构(bcc,α相)到六角密排结构(hcp,ε相)相变的临界压力、相变路径、相变势垒以及相变过程中原子磁性的变化.结果发现:单轴应变条件下Fe从α到ε结构的相变路径与以前理论计算模拟给出的静水压力条件下的相变路径明显不同;原子磁矩沿着相变路径突然降低,同时伴随着能量和体积的突然变化,是典型的一阶磁性相转变,表明原子磁性的丧失导致了bcc结构不稳定而向hcp结构转变.对单轴应变下吉布斯自由能的计算表明,相变势垒随着单轴应变的增加(压力的增加)而降低.同时还就单轴应变条件对相变影响的物理机制进行了讨论.
We performed first-principles calculations for the pressure-induced martensitic phase transition from the ground state ferromagnetic body-center cubic (bcc) phase to a nonmagnetic hexagonal close-packed (hcp) phase of Fe under uniaxial strain along the [001]direction of bcc phase based on density-functional theory,employing the pseudopotentional and plane-wave method. The calculated results show that the transition path under unixial strain is significantly different from that under hydrostatic pressure. A sudden drop of the magnetic moment is observed at a critical point on the transition path,which results in a discontinuous derivative in the total energy and volume curve. This is a feature of a magnetic first-order phase transition,which indicates that magnetism is the primary stabilizing mechanism of the bcc structure. The enthalpy barrier for bcc-to-hcp transformation decreases as the uniaxial strain ( the pressure) increases. The physical origin of the influence of uniaxial strain on the phase transition is discussed.