Phase transitions in cerium at high pressures (up to 15 GPa) and high temperatures

Phase transitions in cerium have been studied by the electrical resistance method in the 15-GPa pressure range at high temperatures. At pressures above 10 GPa, cerium represents a mixture of stable and metastable phases, the composition of this mixture being dependent on the trajectory in the P-T plane that leads to a given point. Transformations in both stable and metastable components of the mixture proceeding rather independently display a complicated picture of phase transitions. It was assumed that only the α (fcc) and α′ (α-U) phases are stable at pressures above the well-known γ-α transition, the other phases being metastable. The proposed bow-shaped equilibrium phase diagram includes an extremely wide hysteresis region, where stable and metastable phases can coexist. The fcc α phase alone survives upon heating above 50°C at 15 GPa.