High pressure orthorhombic structure of CuInSe2

The structural behaviour of CuInSe2 under high pressure has been studied up to 53 GPa using angle-dispersive x-ray powder diffraction techniques. The previously reported structural phase transition from its ambient pressure tetragonal structure to a high pressure phase with a NaCl-like cubic structure at 7.6 GPa has been confirmed. On further compression, another structural phase transition is observed at 39 GPa. A full structural study of this high pressure phase has been carried out and the high pressure structure has been identified as orthorhombic with space group Cmcm and lattice parameters a = 4.867(8) angstrom, b = 5.023(8) angstrom and c = 4.980(3) angstrom at 53.2(2) GPa. This phase transition behaviour is similar to those of analogous binary and trinary semiconductors, where the orthorhombic Cmcm structure can also be viewed as a distortion of the cubic NaCl-type structure.