Novel chain structures in group VI elements

Recent developments in high-pressure methods and advances in X-ray crystallography have led to a new level of understanding of phase diagrams and structures of materials under pressure. Recently discovered phenomena such as complex phases of alkali metals(1,2), incommensurate host-guest structures(3,4), and incommensurately modulated structures(5,6) have rendered obsolete our conventional wisdom about the range of structures possible in the elements(7). Using new in situ diffraction techniques, we have resolved the long-standing problem of the phase-transition sequence of sulphur in its non-metallic state. We demonstrate that it is very different from that previously proposed(7,8), with only two phases stable between 1.5 GPa and 83 GPa (the pressure of metallization), and temperatures from 300 K to 1,100 K. The phases have a triangular chain and a squared chain structure. The same squared chain structure is found in the heavier group VI element selenium.