Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
The pressure-induced bcc-hcp transformation in iron is studied ab initio by following a constant-volume one-parameter transformation path. The calculations are performed in the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). It is shown that the analysis of both spin-polarized and non-spin-polarized states is essential in order to correctly obtain the energetics of the phase transformation. Our calculations make it possible to locate, with high precision, the transition configuration at which the bcc ferromagnetic structure transforms into the hcp nonmagnetic structure.