Equation of state of zircon- and scheelite-type dysprosium orthovanadates: a combined experimental and theoretical study.

Dysprosium orthovanadate, DyVO4, belongs to a family of zircon-type orthovanadates showing a phase transition to scheelite-type structures at moderate pressures below 10 GPa. In the present study, the equations of state (EOSs) for both these phases were determined for the first time using high-pressure x-ray diffraction experiments and ab initio calculations based on the density functional theory. Structural parameters for scheelite-type DyVO4 were calculated from x-ray powder diffraction data as well.