Understanding the behavior of solids under shock compression, including transformations, their pathways, and kinetics, lies at the core of contemporary static and dynamic compression science. A team led by scientists from Sandia National Laboratories is leveraging the capabilities of two sectors of the APS, HPCAT and DCS, for real-time observations of the kinetics of a shock-driven phase transition in a simple ionic solid, CaF2, a model structure in high-pressure physics.

Traditionally, shock compression research infers phase transitions from continuum-level measurements and uses… more

Single crystal diamond is the hardest known material and widely used in studies on materials under extreme conditions. Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) possesses hardness comparable to that of single crystal diamond, while also demonstrating increased fracture toughness and yield strength. Thus, NCD’s is a candidate material as second stage anvils to extend the maximum pressure in static high pressure technology. A research team, using Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition, has successfully grown NCD on single crystal diamond anvil surface (Figure). The team used HPCAT facility and is… more

Nanotwinning is known as a highly effective approach for strengthening structural materials and impeding the degradation of mechanical properties. Recently a major breakthrough was realized when nanotwinned cubic-BN (nt-c-BN) and diamond (nt-diamond) were successfully synthesized from onion-like nanoparticle precursors under high pressure conditions. Understanding the microscopic origin of the twin boundaries, and the formation of such from onion-like precursors, are therefore critically important and can provide guidance to the production of nt-diamond at a larger scale. A research team… more

At sufficiently high pressure, hydrogen is believed to become a monatomic metal with exotic electronic properties. Because of the very high pressures required to create such states, hydrogen-rich compounds have been considered alternative materials that could exhibit many of the properties of atomic metallic hydrogen, such as very high-temperature superconductivity, but at accessible pressures. With the help of theoretical predictions, a research team using the HPCAT facility has successfully synthesized superhydrides with La atoms in an fcc lattice at 170 GPa upon heating to about 1000 K… more