Atomistic pathways of the pressure-induced densification of quartz

When quartz is compressed at room temperature it retains its crystal structure at pressures well above its stability domain (0-2 GPa), and collapses into denser structures only when pressure reaches 20 GPa. Depending on the experimental conditions, pressure-induced densification can be accompanied by amorphization; by the formation of crystalline, metastable polymorphs; and can be preceded by the appearance of an intermediate phase, quartz II, with unknown structure. Based on molecular dynamic simulations, we show that this rich phenomenology can be rationalized through a unified theoretical framework of the atomistic pathways leading to densification. The model emphasizes the role played by the oxygen sublattice, which transforms from a bcc-like order in quartz into close-packed arrangements in the denser structures, through a ferroelastic instability of martensitic nature.