A MHz X-ray diffraction set-up for dynamic compression experiments in the diamond anvil cell.

An experimental platform for dynamic diamond anvil cell (dDAC) research has been developed at the High Energy Density (HED) Instrument at the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (European XFEL). Advantage was taken of the high repetition rate of the European XFEL (up to 4.5 MHz) to collect pulse-resolved MHz X-ray diffraction data from samples as they are dynamically compressed at intermediate strain rates (≤103 s-1), where up to 352 diffraction images can be collected from a single pulse train. The set-up employs piezo-driven dDACs capable of compressing samples in ≥340 µs, compatible with the maximum length of the pulse train (550 µs). Results from rapid compression experiments on a wide range of sample systems with different X-ray scattering powers are presented. A maximum compression rate of 87 TPa s-1 was observed during the fast compression of Au, while a strain rate of ∼1100 s-1 was achieved during the rapid compression of N2 at 23 TPa s-1.

Two-phase equation of state for lithium fluoride.

We present an equation of state for the solid and liquid phases of lithium fluoride that covers a wide range of conditions from ambient pressure and temperature to the high pressures and temperatures exhibited in shock- and ramp-compression studies. The particular solid phase we have focused on in this work is the B1 phase. We have followed an approach where the pressure and heat-capacity functions of both phases are fit to experimental data and our own quantum molecular dynamics simulations and are then integrated in a thermodynamically consistent way to obtain the corresponding free-energy functions. This approach yields a two-phase equation of state that provides better overall agreement with experimental data than other equations of state for lithium fluoride, such as SESAME 7271v3, LEOS 2240, and the model presented by Smirnov. The last of these is a three-phase equation of state that predicts a B1-B2 transition along the shock Hugoniot at a pressure of about 140 GPa. This solid-solid transition has been a topic of speculation and debate in the literature for over 50 years, culminating in the work of Smirnov, who has developed the only potentially viable equation of state that allows for this transition. We explain why the proposed B1-B2 transition at 140 GPa is not consistent with recent velocimetry data.

Phosphorus Dimerization in Gallium Phosphide at High Pressure.

Using combined experimental and computational approaches, we show that at 43 GPa and 1300 K gallium phosphide adopts the super- Cmcm structure, here indicated with its Pearson notation oS24. First-principles enthalpy calculations demonstrate that this structure is more thermodynamically stable above ∼20 GPa than previously proposed polymorphs. In contrast to other polymorphs, the oS24 phase shows a strong bonding differentiation and distorted fivefold coordination geometries of both P atoms. The shortest bond of the phase is a single covalent P-P bond measuring 2.171(11) Šat synthesis pressure. Phosphorus dimerization in GaP sheds light on the nature of the super- Cmcm phase and provides critical new insights into the high-pressure polymorphism of octet semiconductors. Bond directionality and anisotropy explain the relatively low symmetry of this high-pressure phase.

Graphite resistive heated diamond anvil cell for simultaneous high-pressure and high-temperature diffraction experiments.

High-pressure and high-temperature experiments using a resistively heated diamond anvil cell have the advantage of heating samples homogeneously with precise temperature control. Here, we present the design and performance of a graphite resistive heated diamond anvil cell (GRHDAC) setup for powder and single-crystal x-ray diffraction experiments developed at the Extreme Conditions Beamline (P02.2) at PETRA III, Hamburg, Germany. In the GRHDAC, temperatures up to 2000 K can be generated at high pressures by placing it in a water-cooled vacuum chamber. Temperature estimates from thermocouple measurements are within +/-35 K at the sample position up to 800 K and within +90 K between 800 and 1400 K when using a standard seat combination of cBN and WC. Isothermal compression at high temperatures can be achieved by employing a remote membrane control system. The advantage of the GRHDAC is demonstrated through the study of geophysical processes in the Earth's crust and upper mantle region.

The stability of subducted glaucophane with the Earth's secular cooling.

The blueschist to eclogite transition is one of the major geochemical-metamorphic processes typifying the subduction zone, which releases fluids triggering earthquakes and arc volcanism. Although glaucophane is an index hydrous mineral for the blueschist facies, its stability at mantle depths in diverse subduction regimes of contemporary and early Earth has not been experimentally determined. Here, we show that the maximum depth of glaucophane stability increases with decreasing thermal gradients of the subduction system. Along cold subduction geotherm, glaucophane remains stable down ca. 240 km depth, whereas it dehydrates and breaks down at as shallow as ca. 40 km depth under warm subduction geotherm or the Proterozoic tectonic setting. Our results imply that secular cooling of the Earth has extended the stability of glaucophane and consequently enabled the transportation of water into deeper interior of the Earth, suppressing arc magmatism, volcanism, and seismic activities along subduction zones.

X-ray Free Electron Laser-Induced Synthesis of ε-Iron Nitride at High Pressures.

The ultrafast synthesis of ε-Fe3N1+x in a diamond-anvil cell (DAC) from Fe and N2 under pressure was observed using serial exposures of an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL). When the sample at 5 GPa was irradiated by a pulse train separated by 443 ns, the estimated sample temperature at the delay time was above 1400 K, confirmed by in situ transformation of α- to γ-iron. Ultimately, the Fe and N2 reacted uniformly throughout the beam path to form Fe3N1.33, as deduced from its established equation of state (EOS). We thus demonstrate that the activation energy provided by intense X-ray exposures in an XFEL can be coupled with the source time structure to enable exploration of the time-dependence of reactions under high-pressure conditions.

Contributed Review: Culet diameter and the achievable pressure of a diamond anvil cell: Implications for the upper pressure limit of a diamond anvil cell.

Recently, static pressures of more than 1.0 TPa have been reported, which raises the question: what is the maximum static pressure that can be achieved using diamond anvil cell techniques? Here we compile culet diameters, bevel diameters, bevel angles, and reported pressures from the literature. We fit these data and find an expression that describes the maximum pressure as a function of the culet diameter. An extrapolation of our fit reveals that a culet diameter of 1 µm should achieve a pressure of ∼1.8 TPa. Additionally, for pressure generation of ∼400 GPa with a single beveled diamond anvil, the most commonly reported parameters are a culet diameter of ∼20 µm, a bevel angle of 8.5°, and a bevel diameter to culet diameter ratio between 14 and 18. Our analysis shows that routinely generating pressures more than ∼300 GPa likely requires diamond anvil geometries that are fundamentally different from a beveled or double beveled anvil (e.g., toroidal or double stage anvils) and culet diameters that are ≤20 µm.

Dynamic diamond anvil cell (dDAC): a novel device for studying the dynamic-pressure properties of materials.

We have developed a unique device, a dynamic diamond anvil cell (dDAC), which repetitively applies a time-dependent load/pressure profile to a sample. This capability allows studies of the kinetics of phase transitions and metastable phases at compression (strain) rates of up to 500 GPa/s (approximately 0.16 s(-1) for a metal). Our approach adapts electromechanical piezoelectric actuators to a conventional diamond anvil cell design, which enables precise specification and control of a time-dependent applied load/pressure. Existing DAC instrumentation and experimental techniques are easily adapted to the dDAC to measure the properties of a sample under the varying load/pressure conditions. This capability addresses the sparsely studied regime of dynamic phenomena between static research (diamond anvil cells and large volume presses) and dynamic shock-driven experiments (gas guns, explosive, and laser shock). We present an overview of a variety of experimental measurements that can be made with this device.

High-pressure-induced phase transitions in pentaerythritol: X-ray and Raman studies.

The high-pressure response of pentaerythritol crystals has been examined to 10 GPa in diamond-anvil cells using angle-dispersive synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The results reveal two first-order phase transitions: one at 4.8 GPa from phase I, tetragonal I(), to phase II, orthorhombic Pnn2C2v10, with a small approximately 0.5% volume change, and the other at 7.2 GPa to phase III with an unknown crystal structure. We found that phase I exhibits a large crystallographic anisotropy which rapidly decreases with increasing pressure: the ratio of linear compressibilities between two primary crystal axes decreases from betao= 8.1 at 1 atm to betaP = 2.6 at 4 GPa. We suggest that this apparent decrease in crystal anisotropy is due to the disruption of hydrogen bonding in the (001) plane of phase I and eventually leads to an orthorhombic distortion from a quadrilateral network structure in phase I to a quasi one-dimensional structure in phase II. The crystal structure of phase III exhibits a disordered character, and it is likely a conformational variant of phase II.

Irreversible xenon insertion into a small-pore zeolite at moderate pressures and temperatures.

Pressure drastically alters the chemical and physical properties of materials and allows structural phase transitions and chemical reactions to occur that defy much of our understanding gained under ambient conditions. Particularly exciting is the high-pressure chemistry of xenon, which is known to react with hydrogen and ice at high pressures and form stable compounds. Here, we show that Ag16Al16Si24O8·16H2O (Ag-natrolite) irreversibly inserts xenon into its micropores at 1.7 GPa and 250 °C, while Ag(+) is reduced to metallic Ag and possibly oxidized to Ag(2+). In contrast to krypton, xenon is retained within the pores of this zeolite after pressure release and requires heat to desorb. This irreversible insertion and trapping of xenon in Ag-natrolite under moderate conditions sheds new light on chemical reactions that could account for the xenon deficiency relative to argon observed in terrestrial and Martian atmospheres.

High-temperature experiments using a resistively heated high-pressure membrane diamond anvil cell.

We describe a reliable high performance resistive heating method developed for the membrane diamond anvil cell. This method generates homogenous high temperatures at high pressure in the whole sample for extended operation period. It relies on two mini coil heaters made of Pt-Rh alloy wire mounted around the diamond anvils and gasket, while temperature is monitored by two K-type thermocouples mounted near the sample. The sample, diamonds, and tungsten-carbide seats are thermally insulated from the piston and cylinder keeping the cell temperature below 750 K while the sample temperature is 1200 K. The cell with the heaters is placed in a vacuum oven to prevent oxidation and unnecessary heat loss. This assembly allows complete remote operation, ideally suited for experiments at synchrotron facilities. Capabilities of the setup are demonstrated for in situ Raman and synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements. We show experimental measurements from isothermal compression at 900 K and 580 K to 100 GPa and 185 GPa, respectively, and quasi-isobaric compression at 95 GPa over 1000 K.

Experimental method for in situ determination of material textures at simultaneous high pressure and high temperature by means of radial diffraction in the diamond anvil cell.

We introduce the design and capabilities of a resistive heated diamond anvil cell that can be used for side diffraction at simultaneous high pressure and high temperature. The device can be used to study lattice-preferred orientations in polycrystalline samples up to temperatures of 1100 K and pressures of 36 GPa. Capabilities of the instrument are demonstrated with preliminary results on the development of textures in the bcc, fcc, and hcp polymorphs of iron during a nonhydrostatic compression experiment at simultaneous high pressure and high temperature.

Six-fold coordinated carbon dioxide VI.

Under standard conditions, carbon dioxide (CO2) is a simple molecular gas and an important atmospheric constituent, whereas silicon dioxide (SiO2) is a covalent solid, and one of the fundamental minerals of the planet. The remarkable dissimilarity between these two group IV oxides is diminished at higher pressures and temperatures as CO2 transforms to a series of solid phases, from simple molecular to a fully covalent extended-solid V, structurally analogous to SiO2 tridymite. Here, we present the discovery of an extended-solid phase of CO2: a six-fold coordinated stishovite-like phase VI, obtained by isothermal compression of associated CO2-II (refs 1,2) above 50 GPa at 530-650 K. Together with the previously reported CO2-V (refs 3-5) and a-carbonia, this extended phase indicates a fundamental similarity between CO2 (a prototypical molecular solid) and SiO2 (one of Earth's fundamental building blocks). We present a phase diagram with a limited stability domain for molecular CO2-I, and suggest that the conversion to extended-network solids above 40-50 GPa occurs via intermediate phases II (refs 1,2), III (refs 7,8) and IV (refs 9,10). The crystal structure of phase VI suggests strong disorder along the c axis in stishovite-like P42/mnm, with carbon atoms manifesting an average six-fold coordination within the framework of sp3 hybridization.

Distinct thermal behavior of GeO2 glass in tetrahedral, intermediate, and octahedral forms.

One fascinating high-pressure behavior of tetrahedral glasses and melts is the local coordination change with increasing pressure, which provides a structural basis for understanding numerous anomalies in their high-pressure properties. Because the coordination change is often not retained upon decompression, studies must be conducted in situ. Previous in situ studies have revealed that the short-range order of tetrahedrally structured glasses and melts changes above a threshold pressure and gradually transforms to an octahedral form with further pressure increase. Here, we report a thermal effect associated with the coordination change at given pressures and show distinct thermal behaviors of GeO(2) glass in tetrahedral, octahedral, and their intermediate forms. An unusual thermally induced densification, as large as 16%, was observed on a GeO(2) glass at a pressure of 5.5 gigapascal (GPa), based on in situ density and x-ray diffraction measurements at simultaneously high pressures and high temperatures. The large thermal densification at high pressure was found to be associated with the 4- to 6-fold coordination increase. Experiments at other pressures show that the tetrahedral GeO(2) glass displayed small thermal densification at 3.3 GPa arising from the relaxation of intermediate range structure, whereas the octahedral glass at 12.3 GPa did not display any detectable thermal effects.

Martensitic fcc-to-hcp transformations in solid xenon under pressure: a first-principles study.

First-principles calculations reveal that the fcc-to-hcp pressure-induced transformation in solid xenon proceeds through two mechanisms between 5 and 70 GPa. The dynamics of the phase transition involves a sluggish stacking-disorder growth at lower pressures (path I) that changes to a path involving an orthorhombic distortion at higher pressures (path II). The switchover is governed by a delicate interplay of energetics (enthalpy of the system for the structural stability) and kinetics (energy barrier for the transition). The two types of martensitic transformations involved in this pressure-induced structural transformation are a twinned martensitic transition at lower pressures and a slipped martensitic transition at higher pressures.

Osmium has the lowest experimentally determined compressibility.

On the basis of high pressure diamond-anvil compression studies for the precious metals Ru, Ir, and Os we report the surprising discovery that metallic osmium has a lower compressibility than covalently bonded diamond. We also find that Ir and Ru are as incompressible as Re. In addition, we have performed first principles calculations that confirm the trend in the measured transition metal compressibilities.