High-Pressure Polymorph of Iron.

An x-ray diffraction study of iron under pressure has shown that alpha-iron (body-centered cubic) transforms to hexagonal-close-packing (designated epsilon-iron) at 130 kb, room temperature. The volume change for the transformation is -0.20 +/- 0.03 cm2/ mole. The slope for the gamma-epsilon phase boundary has been calculated to be 2 +/- 1 degrees C/kb. The molar volume of iron decreases from 7.10 cm3/mole (density = 7.85 g/cm(3)) at room pressure to 6.10 +/- 0.08 cm(3)/mole (density = 9.1 +/- 0.1 g/cm(3)) at 200 kb and room temperature. The extrapolation of the gamma-epsilon phase boundary, consistent with shock wave data, suggests that it may have an influence on the properties of the earth's core.