First-Principles Investigations on Electronic, Elastic and Thermodynamic Properties of VN under High Pressure<sup> </sup>

An investigation on electronic, elastic and thermodynamic properties of VN under high pressure has been conducted using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) with the plane wave basis set as implemented in the CASTEP code. At elevated pressures VN is predicted to undergo a structural phase transition from the relatively open NaCl-type structure into the denser CsCl-type atomic arrangement. The predicted transition pressure is 189 GPa. The elastic constants, Debye temperature as a function of pressure and temperature of VN are presented.