Pressure induced phase transition behaviour in f-electron based dialuminides

The rare-earth and actinide based compounds are endowed with several exotic physical and chemical properties due to the presence of f-electrons. These properties exhibit interesting changes under the action of various thermod ynamic fields and hence continues to be a subject of extensive research. Fo r instance, under pressure, the nature of f-electrons can be changed from l ocalized to itinerant, leading to a variety of changes in their structural, physical and chemical properties. The present review on the high pressure phase transition behaviour of dialuminides of rare earths and actinides is an outcome of research in our laboratory during the last five years using a unique combination of a Guinier diffractometer and a diamond anvil cell bu ilt in-house. To bring out the correlations between the compressibility and structural behaviour with the electronic structure, we have also carried o ut electronic structure calculation. Further, the usefulness of Villars' th ree parameter structure maps in predicting pressure induced structural tran sitions has been explored and this has been illustrated with the available phase transition data.