Evidence of superdense aluminium synthesized by ultrafast microexplosion

Arturas Vailionis, Eugene G. Gamaly, Vygantas Mizeikis, Wenge Yang, Andrei V. Rode, Saulius Juodkazis*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    161 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    At extreme pressures and temperatures, such as those inside planets and stars, common materials form new dense phases with compacted atomic arrangements and unusual physical properties. The synthesis and study of new phases of matter at pressures above 100 GPa and temperatures above 104 Kg-warm dense matterg-may reveal the functional details of planet and star interiors, and may lead to materials with extraordinary properties. Many phases have been predicted theoretically that may be realized once appropriate formation conditions are found. Here we report the synthesis of a superdense stable phase of body-centred-cubic aluminium, predicted by first-principles theories to exist at pressures above 380 GPa. The superdense Al phase was synthesized in the non-equilibrium conditions of an ultrafast laser-induced microexplosion confined inside sapphire (α-Al2O3). Confined microexplosions offer a strategy to create and recover high-density polymorphs, and a simple method for tabletop study of warm dense matter.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number445
    JournalNature Communications
    Volume2
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

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