Investigating the Melt Curve of Sapphire Using Double Shock Compression

ORAL

Abstract

Sapphire is a commonly used window material for dynamic compression experiments [1] and plays a role in solid solution with the (Mg,Fe)SiO3 system in Earth’s lower mantle [2]. Therefore, it is important to understand its equation of state, optical properties, and melt curve. By using a dynamic precompression platform, we can benchmark the equation of state of sapphire off its principal Hugoniot; namely along the melt curve at pressures nearly two time higher than using a single shock. We present measurements on the sapphire melt curve above 1 TPa which show signatures of latent heat of melting, and present changes in the reflectivity across phase transitions in the doubly shocked sapphire.

[1] Z.-G. Li et. al., Physical Review B 98, 064101 (2018)

[2] S. Gréaux et. al., Geophysical Research Letters 43, 4239 (2016)

*This research is supported by the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0004144. Partial funding for this research was provided by the Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP), a National Science Foundation (NSF) Physics Frontier Center, under Award PHY-2020249. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.

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Presenters

  • Alexa LaPierre

    • University of Rochester

Authors

  • Alexa LaPierre

    • University of Rochester

  • Zaire Sprowal

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester
    • University of Rochester

  • Margaret F Huff

    • Lab for Laser Energetics
    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics
    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Michelle C Marshall

    • University of Rochester

  • Danae N Polsin

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics

  • Gilbert W Collins

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics
    • University of Rochester
    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester

  • Ryan Rygg

    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics

  • Linda E Hansen

    • Sandia National Laboratories