EuMnSb2 is a unique Dirac candidate compound with dual magnetic orders and a sizable coupling between the magnetic Mn and Eu sublattices. Earlier studies, through the application of an external magnetic field, have shown that the strongly coupled Eu magnetism and charge transport enable the magnetic control of topological quasiparticles. Motivated by this strong tunability, researchers led by Wenli Bi’s group at the University of Alabama at Birmingham applied external pressure to EuMnSb2 and systematically investigated the magnetic state, valence states of both Eu and Mn sublattices… more

Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory recently reported on the development and validation of a multi-phase strength model for tin. This work supported a multi-year Tri-NNSA Lab initiative focused on the development of multi-phase strength models for metals and leveraged a wide range of experimental techniques with platforms spanning the full range from static to shock compression. Essential inputs to strength models are accurate and precise values for the shear modulus and its pressure derivative. In this work, these parameters were determined to  ~5 GPa using… more

The toroidal diamond-anvil cell (tDAC) can routinely achieve pressures under static compression above 300 GPa, but accurate equations of state (EoS) measurements of materials to these conditions remains limited. To obtain high-quality EoS data, samples must be compressed in a soft pressure-transmitting medium (PTM) to provide a nearly isotropic compression environment, but the small tDAC sample chamber (~4 – 6 µm diameter) presents a great challenge for embedding micron-sized samples in a soft PTM. In a paper recently published in the Journal of Applied Physics as an Editor’s Pick,… more

Researchers from Iowa State University and HPCAT recently performed measurements on silicon using the novel rotational diamond anvil cell and found that shear and non-hydrostatic compression results in formation of Si-II at lower pressures and at ambient temperature. This study spearheaded by long-time HPCAT user, Prof. Valery Levitas (Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering and Murray Harpole Chair in Engineering at Iowa State University), was recently published in Nature Communications.

Traditional pressure and stress-induced phase transitions (PTs)… more

Department of Energy, NNSA Center of Excellence CAMCSE researchers have published their latest research in Scientific Reports detailing a high-resolution electron microscopy study on a pressure-treated 3-D printed super alloy known for its unusually high strength and high ductility.

The published study was led by UAB and includes participants from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the University of California-Irvine, and the University of Notre Dame. The real secret behind superlative mechanical properties of 3-D printed super alloys is the nanostructure… more

Improvement of alloys opens fundamentally new technical opportunities. Additive manufacturing is a powerful tool to make finely tuned alloys with tailored, previously unattainable combinations of properties. Application of high pressure puts the materials under a great deal of strain, and potentially reveals unexpected combinations of plastic, elastic deformations and atomic rearrangements. Researchers from University of Michigan, LLNL and ANL used the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Photon Source to look at an alloy of copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) under extremely high… more

Diamond shows unprecedented hardness. Since hardness is a measure of the resistance to external indentation of chemical bonds in a material, information on the detailed electronic bonding nature of diamond beyond several million atmospheres is key to understanding the origin of hardness. However, probing the electronic structures of diamond at such extreme compression has not been experimentally possible until recently. Researchers used the HPCAT facility and successfully measured the inelastic x-ray-scattering spectra for diamond up to 2 million atmospheres, which provides data on the… more

Recently, a selection of research articles which appeared in High Pressure Research has been made freely accessible by Taylor & Francis for a generous period of 3 months. Among the array of noteworthy contributions, is a recent paper that introduces hpMCA, a newly introduced software program at HPCAT. The software is designed to support the energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXD) data collection and analysis, with a focus on the unique demands of high-pressure and high-temperature experiments.

While angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction (ADXD) remains the predominant… more