High precision equation of state measurements of Ta ramp compressed to 2.3 terapascals

The generation of extreme pressure conditions within the laboratory has led to numerous discoveries transforming our understanding of material behavior at high pressure (> 1 TPa and 298 K). At these extreme pressure conditions, theorists predict new exotic quantum states of matter, but few experimental measurements have been reported to constrain modeling at these conditions. Laser-driven ramp compression is an experimental technique which allows materials to be studied in their solid forms at extremely high densities, inaccessible by any other experimental method. Here, we report quasi-absolute EOS measurements on tantalum to 2.3 TPa , along the principal isentrope. Tantalum is a widely used reference standard and these measurements improve EOS models which are critical to our understanding of how bonding, crystal structures, and transport properties change at extreme pressures. This work was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344.