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    Systematic studies on phase transitions, phase compositions, and phase diagram of the methane-helium binary system under isothermal compression

    Xiangdong Li1,2,*, Di Mai1, Wentao Liang1, Cheng Zhong1, Xiaoyu Sun3, Rucheng Dai1,3, Zhongping Wang1,3, Chan Gao4,†, Sergey S. Lobanov2 et al.

    Zengming Zhang1,3,‡

    • *Contact author: xiangdong.li@gfz.de
    • †Contact author: gaochan@cdut.edu.cn
    • ‡Contact author: zzm@ustc.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. B 113, 214102 – Published 8 June, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/4pzp-hxlv

    Abstract

    Helium and methane are the important constituents of ice giants in the solar system. As such, the behavior of methane-helium mixtures at high pressure offers insights into the structure and composition of interiors of ice giants. Here, we report on the room-temperature high-pressure phase diagram of methane-helium mixtures with helium concentrations from 10% to 98% examined by Raman spectroscopy and visual observation. Several two-phase equilibria and a liquid-liquid-solid three-phase equilibrium are observed upon loading and unloading pressure. Furthermore, based on the Raman vibrational frequency and corresponding full width at half maximum (FWHM) of C-H stretching vibration mode v1, we estimated helium concentrations of methane-rich fluid (F1) and helium-rich fluid (F2) in different methane-helium mixtures. In addition, Raman measurements for solid phase (S1) across all mixtures suggest helium can hardly dissolve in S1 at high pressure.

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