Abstract
We investigate pressure-induced structural changes in liquids of tetrahedrally bonded materials by synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The liquids show various structural changes, depending on their ionic characters in the chemical bonds. The liquids with a small ionic character, such as GaSb, InSb, and InAs, show continuous structural changes over a wide pressure region of about 20 GPa. In contrast, those with a large ionic character, such as CdTe and AgI, show drastic structural changes within a narrow pressure region of about 2 GPa. We discuss the effect of the ionicity on the pressure-induced structural changes in the liquids and compare the effect with that in the crystalline phases.
