High Pressure-High Temperature Phase Diagram of Beryllium

A detailed understanding of the phase diagram of beryllium and its alloys impacts fundamental science and technological applications. Despite a simple atomic structure, theoretical modeling of the phase diagram of beryllium has been extremely challenging and remains an area of active investigation [Kadas, ,PRB 07]. Extension of the experimental understanding of beryllium will serve to inform and advance theoretical efforts and technological applications. To address these needs, we have extended our previous work [Evans, PRB 05], and performed x-ray diffraction and melt studies beryllium and beryllium alloys at high pressure. We will describe our measurements of the crystal structure, lattice constants, and melt curve of high-pressure beryllium and beryllium alloys. We will discuss insights into this simple yet challenging system.