Structure of covalently bonded materials: From the Peierls distortion to Phase-Change Materials

The relation between electronic structure and cohesion of materials has been a permanent quest of Jacques Friedel and his school. He developed simple models that are of great value as guidelines in conjunction with ab initio calculations. His local approach of bonding has both the advantages of a large field of applications including non-crystalline materials and a common language with chemists. Along this line, we review some fascinating behaviors of covalent materials, most of them showing a Peierls (symmetry breaking) instability mechanism, even in liquid and amorphous materials. We analyze the effect of external parameters such as pressure and temperature. In some temperature ranges, the Peierls distortion disappears and a negative thermal expansion is observed. In addition, the Peierls distortion plays a central role in Phase-Change Materials, which are very promising non- volatile memories.