Crossover from metal to insulator in dense lithium-rich compound CLi4.

Abstract

At room environment, all materials can be classified as insulators or metals or in-between semiconductors, by judging whether they are capable of conducting the flow of electrons. One can expect an insulator to convert into a metal and to remain in this state upon further compression, i.e., pressure-induced metallization. Some exceptions were reported recently in elementary metals such as all of the alkali metals and heavy alkaline earth metals (Ca, Sr, and Ba). Here we show that a compound of CLi4 becomes progressively less conductive and eventually insulating upon compression based on ab initio density-functional theory calculations. An unusual path with pressure is found for the phase transition from metal to semimetal, to semiconductor, and eventually to insulator. The Fermi surface filling parameter is used to describe such an antimetallization process.