Measuring the melting curve of iron at super-Earth core conditions

Kraus, Richard G.; Hemley, Russell J.; Ali, Suzanne J.; Belof, Jonathan L.; Benedict, Lorin X.; Bernier, Joel; Braun, Dave; Cohen, R. E.; Collins, Gilbert W.; Coppari, Federica; Desjarlais, Michael P.; Fratanduono, Dayne; Hamel, Sebastien; Krygier, Andy; Lazicki, Amy; Mcnaney, James; Millot, Marius; Myint, Philip C.; Newman, Matthew G.; Rygg, James R.; Sterbentz, Dane M.; Stewart, Sarah T.; Stixrude, Lars; Swift, Damian C.; Wehrenberg, Chris; Eggert, Jon H.

doi:10.1126/science.abm1472

Title: Measuring the melting curve of iron at super-Earth core conditions

Journal Article · Thu Jan 13 00:00:00 EST 2022 · Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm1472· OSTI ID:1840054

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Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States)
Carnegie Inst. of Science, Washington, DC (United States)
Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

The discovery of more than 4500 extrasolar planets has created a need for modeling their interior structure and dynamics. Given the prominence of iron in planetary interiors, we require accurate and precise physical properties at extreme pressure and temperature. A first-order property of iron is its melting point, which is still debated for the conditions of Earth’s interior. Here, we used high-energy lasers at the National Ignition Facility and in situ x-ray diffraction to determine the melting point of iron up to 1000 gigapascals, three times the pressure of Earth’s inner core. We used this melting curve to determine the length of dynamo action during core solidification to the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure. We find that terrestrial exoplanets with four to six times Earth’s mass have the longest dynamos, which provide important shielding against cosmic radiation.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States); University of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Programs (DP); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003975; AC52-07NA27344; NA0003525; NA0003842; PHY-2020249; EAR-1901813; NA0004084

OSTI ID:: 1840054

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2006832; OSTI ID: 2274880

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-826022; TRN: US2301175

Journal Information:: Science, Vol. 375, Issue 6577; ISSN 0036-8075

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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