Pressure-Induced Insulator to Metal Transition and Superconductivity of the Inert Gases

We present a comprehensive computational study of the transition from insulator to metal for the inert gases. The linearized augmented plane wave (LAPW) method, with the local density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA), was applied to study these transitions. Our calculations of the inert gases determined that the total energy of the fcc structure to be lower than the total energy in the bcc structure. This is in agreement with the experimentally verified results of the inert gases. We have confirmed that under high enough pressure, the inert gases, Ar, Kr, Xe, and Rn, transition from an insulator to a metal. Furthermore, using the Gaspari-Gyorffy-McMillan theory of superconductivity, we find significant signs of superconductivity for these materials under high pressure.