Role of temperature in the theoretical analysis of holmium pnictides

The high-pressure structural phase transition and associated properties of holmium pnictides (HoX; X=P, As, Sb and Bi) have been investigated in the present work. The Realistic Interaction Potential Approach (RIPA) including the effect of temperature has been applied. The occurrence of first order phase transition is evidenced from a sudden collapse in volume. These compounds transform from B1 to B2 structure under high pressure. The high temperature and pressure behaviour of elastic constants and bulk modulus are also reported. Our results are in general in good agreement with experimental and other theoretical results where available, and provide predictions where they are unavailable.