Pressure-induced phase transitions of piezoelectric single crystals from the langasite family: La3Nb0.5Ga5.5O14 and La3Ta0.5Ga5.5O14.

The hydrostatic compression of piezoelectric single crystals of La(3)Nb(0.5)Ga(5.5)O(14) (LNG) and La(3)Ta(0.5)Ga(5.5)O(14) (LTG) was studied at pressures of up to 23 GPa in diamond-anvil high-pressure cells using single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. The reflection-intensity data for LNG and LTG were collected at pressures of up to 22.8 GPa and 16.7 GPa, respectively. Both compounds show anisotropic behaviour under pressure, which is caused by differences in bonding parallel to the a and c directions. The compression of strongly rigid structures leads to increasing internal strains and results, at pressures of 12.4 (3) GPa for LNG and 11.7 (3) GPa for LTG, in a transition to lower symmetry. The compressibilities along the c axis are almost the same for LNG and LTG through the whole investigated pressure range. In contrast, the pressure dependencies of the a axis of these materials are similar only for the initial phase, and the axial compressibilities for the high-pressure polymorphs of LNG and LTG are significantly different to each other. The volume compressibilities of trigonal LNG and LTG (space group P321) are about 0.007 GPa(-1); respective bulk moduli are 145 (3) GPa and 144 (2) GPa. The monoclinic high-pressure phases (space group A2) of LNG and LTG show differing compressions, which can be explained by the substitution of Ta(5+) for Nb(5+). Thus, the bulk moduli for the high-pressure polymorphs of LNG and LTG are B(0) = 93 (2) GPa and B(0) = 128 (12) GPa, respectively. The volume compressibilities of the high-pressure phases at 0.011 GPa(-1) for LNG and 0.008 GPa(-1) for LTG are higher than the initial phases, this effect being more pronounced in the case of LNG.