High-pressure behaviour of germanate olivines studied by X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Germanate olivines Mg₂GeO₄, Ca₂GeO₄ and CaMgGeO₄ have been studied by high-pressure X-ray Diffraction and high-pressure X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy. The three compounds were compressed, in the 0–30 GPa pressure range, at room temperature in a diamond-anvil cell, silicon oil being used as the pressure transmitting medium. Values of K₀ are 166 ± 15, 117 ± 15 and 152 ± 14 GPa for Mg₂GeO₄, Ca₂GeO₄ and CaMgGeO₄ respectively. These olivines all exhibit compression anisotropy, the a axis being the least compressible. Crystal to crystal phase transitions have been observed in Mg₂GeO₄ and Ca₂GeO₄ above 12 GPa and 6 Gpa respectively. The nature of these structural changes remains unclear yet. The onset of amorphization has been observed in Mg₂GeO₄ and Ca₂GeO₄ at pressures above about 22 and 11 GPa respectively. These phase transitions and amorphization processes do not involve any detectable increase in the coordination number of germanium atoms. At higher pressure (P >23 GPa), we report the onset of a transition from a phase with fourfold coordinated germanium to a phase with higher germanium coordination number in CaMgGeO₄.