Study of the reaction products of SF6 and C in the laser heated diamond anvil cell by pair distribution function analysis and micro-Raman spectroscopy

•The decomposition of SF6 in the presence of C was induced at >10GPa and >2000K.•High-pressure X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy were used for characterisation.•A high-pressure pair distribution function was used to analyse amorphous products.•Theoretical Raman spectra for CF4 at high pressures were calculated.

The decomposition of SF6 in the presence of glassy carbon was induced in laser heated diamond anvil cells at 10–11 GPa and 2000–2500 K. The reaction products were characterised by synchrotron X-ray diffraction, including high pressure pair distribution function analysis, and micro-Raman spectroscopy combined with atomistic model calculations. The decomposition leads to elemental amorphous helical sulfur and crystalline CF4-III. Two different sulfur phases, namely helical Sμ and crystalline α-S8, were observed after recovering the laser heated samples of different experiments at ambient conditions.

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