Identification of Phase Transitions and Metastability in Dynamically Compressed Antimony Using Ultrafast X-Ray Diffraction.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2019;
122:255704. [PMID:
31347883 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.122.255704]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2018] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Ultrafast x-ray diffraction at the LCLS x-ray free electron laser has been used to resolve the structural behavior of antimony under shock compression to 59 GPa. Antimony is seen to transform to the incommensurate, host-guest phase Sb-II at ∼11 GPa, which forms on nanosecond timescales with ordered guest-atom chains. The high-pressure bcc phase Sb-III is observed above ∼15 GPa, some 8 GPa lower than in static compression studies, and mixed Sb-III/liquid diffraction are obtained between 38 and 59 GPa. An additional phase which does not exist under static compression, Sb-I^{'}, is also observed between 8 and 12 GPa, beyond the normal stability field of Sb-I, and resembles Sb-I with a resolved Peierls distortion. The incommensurate Sb-II high-pressure phase can be recovered metastably on release to ambient pressure, where it is stable for more than 10 ns.
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