Evidence of super-dense aluminium synthesized by ultrafast microexplosion
- Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, CA, (United States)
- Laser Physics Centre, The Australian National University, Canberra, (Australia)
- Division of Global Research Leaders, (Research Institute of Electronics), Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu (Japan)
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Laser Physics Centre, The Australian National University, Canberra, (Australia)
- Centre for Micro-Photonics, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, (Australia)
At extreme pressures and temperatures, such as those inside planets and stars, common materials form new dense phases with compacted atomic arrangements and unusual physical properties. The synthesis and study of new phases of matter at pressures above 100 GPa and temperatures above 104 K—warm dense matter—may reveal the functional details of planet and star interiors, and may lead to materials with extraordinary properties. Many phases have been predicted theoretically that may be realized once appropriate formation conditions are found. Here we report the synthesis of a superdense stable phase of body-centred-cubic aluminium, predicted by first-principles theories to exist at pressures above 380 GPa. The superdense Al phase was synthesized in the non-equilibrium conditions of an ultrafast laser-induced microexplosion confined inside sapphire (α-Al₂O₃). Confined microexplosions offer a strategy to create and recover high-density polymorphs, and a simple method for tabletop study of warm dense matter.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Energy Frontier Research in Extreme Environments (EFree)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0001057
- OSTI ID:
- 1065608
- Journal Information:
- Nature Communications, Vol. 2; Related Information: EFree partners with Carnegie Institution of Washington (lead); California Institute of Technology; Colorado School of Mines; Cornell University; Lehigh University; Pennsylvania State University; ISSN 2041-1723
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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