The recent discovery of more than a thousand planets outside our Solar System, together with the significant push to achieve inertially confined fusion in the laboratory, has prompted a renewed interest in how dense matter behaves at millions to billions of atmospheres of pressure. The theoretical description of such electron-degenerate matter has matured since the early quantum statistical model of Thomas and Fermi, and now suggests that new complexities can emerge at pressures where core electrons (not only valence electrons) influence the structure and bonding of matter. Recent developments in shock-free dynamic (ramp) compression now allow laboratory access to this dense matter regime. Here we describe ramp-compression measurements for diamond, achieving 3.7-fold compression at a peak pressure of 5 terapascals (equivalent to 50 million atmospheres). These equation-of-state data can now be compared to first-principles density functional calculations and theories long used to describe matter present in the interiors of giant planets, in stars, and in inertial-confinement fusion experiments. Our data also provide new constraints on mass-radius relationships for carbon-rich planets.
We compare electrical and mechanical properties of C70 fullerene with high purity graphite to 48 GPa at room temperature using designer diamond anvils with embedded electrical microprobes. The electrical resistance of C70 shows a minimum at 20 GPa with transformation to an amorphous insulating phase complete above 35 GPa, while graphite remains conducting. Nanoindentation shows hardness values 220 times larger for the pressure quenched amorphous phase than for similarly treated graphite. Our studies establish that the amorphous carbon phase produced from C70 has unique properties not attainable from graphite.
Multiple thickness Fe foils were ramp compressed over several nanoseconds to pressure conditions relevant to the Earth's core. Using wave-profile analysis, the sound speed and the stress-density response were determined to a peak longitudinal stress of 273 GPa. The measured stress-density states lie between shock compression and 300-K static data, and are consistent with relatively low temperatures being achieved in these experiments. Phase transitions generally display time-dependent material response and generate a growing shock. We demonstrate for the first time that a low-pressure phase transformation (a-Fe to e-Fe) can be overdriven by an initial steady shock to avoid both the time-dependent response and the growing shock that has previously limited ramp-wave-loading experiments. In addition, the initial steady shock pre-compresses the Fe and allows different thermodynamic compression paths to be explored.
High-pressure electrical conductivity experiments have been performed on the Mott insulator MnO to a maximum pressure of 106 GPa. We observe a steady decrease in resistivity to 90 GPa, followed by a large, rapid decrease by a factor of 10 5 between 90 and 106 GPa. Temperature cycling the sample at 87 and 106 GPa shows insulating and metallic behavior at these pressures, respectively. Our observations provide strong evidence for a pressure-induced insulator-to-metal transition beginning at 90 GPa.
Fabrication of compositionally graded structures for use as light-gas gun impactors has been demonstrated using a tape casting technique. Mixtures of metal powders in the Mg-Cu system were cast into a series of 19 tapes with uniform compositions ranging from 100% Mg to 100% Cu. The individual compositions were fabricated into monolithic pellets for characterization of microstructure, density, and sound wave velocity. Graded impactors were fabricated by stacking layers of different compositions in a sequence calculated to yield a tailored acoustic impedance profile, and were characterized by ultrasonic C-scan and white light interferometry. The graded impactors were launched into stationary Al targets using a two-stage light-gas gun, and the resulting wave profiles were measured with either VISAR or Photonic Doppler Velocimetry. For an impactor using only seven compositions ranging from Mg to Cu, the composition steps are visible in the wave profiles. An impactor utilizing the full series of 19 compositions produces smoother compression with no visible manifestation of the discrete-layer structure. Hydrodynamic simulations of these impactors also suggest smooth compression profiles within the impactor.
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