Constraints on the spin-state transition of siderite from laboratory-based Raman spectroscopy and electrical conductivity under high temperature and high pressure

Abstract

The vibrational and electrical transport properties of natural siderite are systematically investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy and alternating current impedance spectroscopy under conditions of 0.6–55.6 GPa, 298–873 K and different hydrostatic environments using a diamond anvil cell (DAC). Upon non-hydrostatic compression, all of these observable characteristic variations of siderite including the appearance of three absolutely new Raman peaks (’, ′ and ′), the disappearance of Raman peaks (, and ) and the discontinuity in the pressure-dependent electrical conductivity can provide robust evidence of electronic spin transitions of Fe from high-spin to mixed-spin to low-spin states at the respective pressures of 42.5 GPa and 48.5 GPa. As far as hydrostatic condition, the electronic spin states from high-spin to mixed-spin to low-spin states occurred at the higher pressures of 45.7 GPa and 50.4 GPa, respectively, which implied the highly sensitive hydrostaticity of electronic spin transition pressures. Upon decompression, the reverse electronic spin transitions from low-spin to mixed-spin to high-spin states were detected at the respective pressures of 47.2 GPa and 28.7 GPa under non-hydrostatic condition, and as well as at the pressures of 49.4 GPa and 25.1 GPa under hydrostatic condition, respectively. The huge pressure hysteresis of 13.8 GPa and 20.6 GPa for the electronic spin state transition was revealed under non-hydrostatic and hydrostatic environments, respectively. In order to explore the effect of temperature on the electronic spin transition, a series of electrical conductivity experiments on siderite were performed over the temperature range of 323–873 K under conditions of three typical pressures of 47.7, 49.8 and 51.6 GPa. Furthermore, the functional relationships between the temperature and pressure describing the high-spin to mixed-spin to low-spin transitions for siderite were successfully established: (GPa) = 39.318 + 0.015 (K) and (GPa) = 41.277 + 0.018 (K), respectively. In conclusion, our acquired phase diagram of the electronic spin transition on siderite is beneficial to deep insight into the electronic spin behavior for those of iron-bearing carbonate minerals under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions.