Elasticity of amorphous zirconium tungstate at high pressure

Compressional (V_P) and shear wave (V_s) velocities of the amorphous phase of ZrW₂O₈ have been measured up to 10.4 GPa at room temperature using ultrasonic interferometry in conjunction with synchrotron x radiation. The pressure-density relation is determined using the measured velocities. Both V_P and V_s, as well as the adiabatic bulk and shear moduli, exhibit monotonic increase with increasing pressure. The pressure derivatives of the bulk and shear moduli are determined to be K_S0′ =7.3 (1) and G₀′ =1.8 (1), with bulk and shear moduli K_S0=61.7 (5) GPa and G₀ =35.0 (2) GPa. Comparing with the α phase, V_P, V_S, K _S0, E, _ac, and σ of the amorphous phase decrease by 14.8%, 10.0%, 17.2%, 2.9%, 1.2%, and 15.5%, along with 28% and 3.2% increase in density and shear modulus, respectively.