Work

Structure of niobium to 365 GPa using ultrafast x-ray diffraction and shock compression

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The phase stability, crystal structure, and melting of Nb have been examined under high pressure shock compression to 365 GPa using ultrafast x-ray diffraction measurements on two x-ray free electron laser facilities. On compression, Nb remains stable in the bcc phase up to 220 GPa, with coexistence of bcc-Nb and liquid from 249 to 298 GPa, and complete melting at 301 GPa, with melt identified by diffuse liquid diffraction. Melting initiates at higher pressure than expected based on theoretical predictions, and the data consistently excludes the presence of other suggested phases of Nb at these pressures, including and hcp, thereby resolving the long-standing structural discrepancy. Singh-type strength analysis provides experimental evidence for a change in sign of the elastic anisotropy parameter at 121 GPa, consistent with the previously reported heat-induced hardening to heat-induced softening transition in Nb.

Source: Physical review. B./Physical review. B

DOI: 10.1103/tlxw-bfx4

Authors: C. M. Lonsdale, J. D. McHardy, C. V. Storm, M. I. McMahon, R. S. McWilliams, N. Jaisle, M. Jones, C. R. Roy, R. F. Smith, A. Descamps, A. Higginbotham, T. M. Hutchinson, S. Pandolfi, A. Sollier, A. Amouretti, M. Andrzejewski, K. Appel, T. Aughey, P. Avery, E. Barraud, A. B. Belonoshko, E. Brambrink, N. Bruzy, K. Buakor, S. D. Di Dio Cafiso, C. Camarda, O. Castelnau, A. Chakraborti, J. Chantel, D. M. Cheshire, G. W. Collins, A. J. Comley, T. E. Cowan, C. Crépisson, Y. Deng, L. Dresselhaus-Marais, X. Fang, M. D. Fitzgerald, S. Galitskiy, E. Galtier, H. Ginestet, J. M. Gonzalez, F. Hanby, A. Hari, M. Harmand, N. J. Hartley, P. G. Heighway, J-A. Hernandez, H. Höppner, D. Khaghani, J. Kim, T. Kim, Z. Konôpková, D. Kraus, A. Krygier, H. J. Lee, S-N. Luo, M. Masruri, E. E. McBride, D. McGonegle, S. Merkel, T. Michelat, E. Mijit, M. Nakatsutsumi, A-M. Norton, I. K. Ocampo, I. I. Oleynik, C. Otzen, N. Ozaki, S. E. Parsons, D. J. Peake, A. Pelka, K. A. Pereira, A. Phelipeau, C. Prescher, T. R. Preston, N. Pulver, D. Riley, L. Rogal, J-P. Schwinkendorf, G. Shoulga, S. Singh, C. N. Somarathna, T. Stevens, C. Strohm, T-A. Suer, M. X. Tang, A. Tipeev, M. Toncian, T. Toncian, S. J. Tracy, U. Trdan, J. D. Tunacao, J. D. Umpleby-Thorp, C. E. Vennari, L. Wang, J. S. Wark, C. McGuire, G. Morard, J. H. Eggert

Institutions: University of Edinburgh, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Queen's University Belfast, University of York, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA DAM Île-de-France, The University of Osaka, European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser, Kitware (United States), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Nanjing University, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Arts et Métiers, Laboratoire Procédés et Ingénierie en Mécanique et Matériaux, Université de Lille, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Unité Matériaux et Transformations, University of Rochester, AWE Nuclear Security Technologies, University of Oxford, Southwest Jiaotong University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, University of South Florida, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Arizona State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Carnegie Institution for Science, Earth and Planets Laboratory, University of Ljubljana

Language: English

Topic: High-pressure geophysics and materials

Subfield: Geophysics

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, University of Rochester, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, National Research Foundation of Korea, Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS, Office of Science, National Nuclear Security Administration, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Science and Technology Facilities Council, European Research Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Horizon 2020, Basic Energy Sciences, Fusion Energy Sciences, Laboratory Directed Research and Development, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Awards: G1074558798, G1088636562, G1092422733, G1116528938, G1229526393, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Fusion Energy Science and Technology, G1356433355, G1371919355, G1393511030, G1429959982, G1430999822, G14554683, G1561258537, G1627211668, G1710736275, G1742034940, G1863711647, G2145270357, G217780377, G22000355, Femtosecond X-Ray Diffraction Studies of Crystalline Matter Deforming under Extreme Loading, G2371548206, G2476288829, G2598267657, G2717806384, G303061748, G3122633805, FOR 2440: Materie im Inneren von Planeten Hochdruck, Planeten und Plasmaphysik, G3369655909, G3425750586, G3532100849, Untersuchung planetarer Eise mit Kompressionsexperimenten, G3669113783, G3795021842, Exploiting the European XFEL for a New Generation of High Energy Density and Materials Science, G3983191366, G4022702638, Exploration of the principles of structural changes of material and field in solids and plasmas under extreme conditions with high-power lasers, G4066647835, G4202668658, G423422847, G4264918310, G4285401876, G4301142815, G4560252916, 谷津田の圃場整備に関する研究, G4576448283, G4654690619, Exploiting the European XFEL for a New Generation of High Energy Density and Materials Science, G4711507462, G4775162344, G4851257463, G4927892525, G495301720, U.S. Germany Cooperative Research: Quark Exchange Processes in Hot and Dense Hadronic Matter, G498139845, THE MAJOR SCIENTIFIC GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO EXPLORE THE PHASE STABILITY OF FE3C AT CONDITIONS OF PLANETARY CORES, INCLUDING THE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE AND ANY PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS AT PRESSURES UP TO 600 GPA AND TEMPERATURES UP TO 5000 K. THE EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM WILL UTILIZE DEVELOPMENTS IN X-RAY DIFFRACTION TO CHARACTERIZE MATERIAL RESPONSE AT THE ATOMIC LEVEL UNDER BOTH RAMP AND SHOCK LOADING. DIFFRACTION WILL BE COMBINED WITH VELOCIMETRY MEASUREMENTS TO CHARACTERIZE THE CONTINUUM EQUATION OF STATE OR IRON CARBIDE. THIS PROJECT WILL DELIVER NEW FUNDAMENTAL INFORMATION ON THE FE-C PHASE DIAGRAM AT EXTREME PRESSURE-TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS. EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CARRIED OUT AT STATE-OF-THE-ART LASER-SHOCK FACILITIES INCLUDING THE DYNAMIC COMPRESSION SECTOR (DCS) AT ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY AND THE OMEGA LASER FACILITY AT THE LABORATORY FOR LASER ENERGETICS (LLE). THEY WILL ALSO SEEK TIME TO CARRY OUT PULSED-POWER EXPERIMENTS AT SANDIA’S Z MACHINE. TO GUIDE THE EXPERIMENTAL EFFORT, A THEORETICAL/SIMULATION THRUST WILL PERFORM QUANTUM ACCURATE CLASSICAL MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS TO PREDICT THE EQUATION OF STATE, PHASE DIAGRAMS, AND COMPRESSION PATHWAYS, PROVIDING ATOMIC-SCALE INSIGHT INTO PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS OF IRON CARBIDE UNDER DYNAMIC COMPRESSION., G5015276450, G5222371923, G5484809798, G5570207115, Collaborative Research: Dynamic Compression of Iron-Sulfur Alloys at the Earth's Core Conditions, SPP 2404: Rekonstruktion der Dynamik des tiefen Erdinnern über geologische Zeiträume (DeepDyn), G574795485, G5866606679, Inertial Fusion Energy: Optimising High Energy Density Physics in Complex Geometries, G5921803673, G6109272482, MINeralogical DIversity in (eXo)planets Interiors, G6441358257, G6520013369, Exploiting Next Generation X-ray Sources for Extreme Conditions Research, G687565771, X線超解像によるレーザー衝撃波面のミクロ-メゾ構造ダイナミクス, Towards a New Quantum Frontier in High Energy Density Science, G7223008104, G7241963332, G767720583, G7776575570, Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures, Production systems, laser technologies and materials welding, Eigenschaften eisenhaltiger Geomaterialien unter Bedingungen der KernMantel Grenze, G8121028258, Messstation mit Soller Slits und CO2 Laserheizung für Experimente an leichten und nichtkristallinen Materialien unter extremen Bedingungen an PETRA III/IV, Hamburg, G8382000481, G8530823203, Tracking the degradation of fresh particulate organic matter in permeable riverbed sediments using FT-ICR-MS and metagenomic/transcriptomic sequencing, G8726098666, G8945569637, G895790057, Kinetically controlled synthesis of superconducting Hydrides at EXtreme conditions using DYNamic compression, G969889393, G991281326, G997380163

OpenAlex ID: W7168299710

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