Melting curve of sodium at high pressure

A semiempirical model equation of state is developed in terms of bulk modulus and the Grüneisen parameter to compute the melting temperature of sodium in the gigapascal range of pressure. The model successfully explains the increase and decrease of T _m as the pressure increases. Computed values of the critical pressure and temperature are in very good agreement with the experimental observations.     

Towards a metallic quasi‐d9 system without copper: AgO at high pressure

AgO is a prototypical mixed‐valence compound, with markedly different coordination environment of dumbbell Ag(1+) and low‐spin square‐planar Ag(3+) which render it a narrow band gap semiconductor. The hybrid HSE06 functional reproduces fairly well the band gap of its P 2₁/c form at ambient conditions (ΔE_exp = 1.0–1.1 eV, ΔE_theor = 0.94 eV) and suggest progressive band gap decrease with external pressure with metallization at 50 GPa via band overlap. Dynamic (phonon) instability appears at the onset of metallization leading to a structural phase transition to a more stable but still metallic $$P\stackrel{?}{1}$$ form. The density of electronic states at the Fermi level of the $$P\stackrel{?}{1}$$ polymorph is small and a pseudo‐gap at the Fermi level is preserved.

Illustration of the predicted P2₁/c → $$P\stackrel{?}{1}$$ transformation.     

Decomposition of the hexagonal copper hydride at high pressure

The process of decomposition of hexagonal copper hydride has been observed in situ in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) using the energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD) method. The presence and intensity of diffraction lines of the hexagonal CuH_0.8 phase have been taken as a probe for the decomposition process. The intensity of diffraction lines decreases abruptly in the vicinity of 8.4 GPa, indicating complete decomposition of the hydride. The determined value of decomposition pressure is equal to 8.4±0.6 GPa. The standard Gibbs energy of formation of 54.0±1.3 kJ mol⁻¹ (H₂) calculated for copper hydride has been compared with the result obtained from calorimetric studies. The large discrepancy between the two values suggests that the decomposition pressure does not describe ‘true’ equilibrium conditions in this system.     

高导无氧铜的高压与高应变率本构模型研究

基于Y/G及G/B为常数的假设,构建了高导无氧铜的七种高压与高应变率本构模型.对于高导无氧铜进行了平面冲击波试验,采用纵向与横向锰铜应力计记录了试件中的纵向与横向应力,从而得到了屈服应力历史.用所构建的七种本构模型进行了数值模拟,并与高导无氧铜的平面冲击波试验结果进行比较.结果表明,平面冲击波载荷下高导无氧铜的屈服强度对于压力、密度、温度以及塑性应变的依赖性是本构描述的关键.而由Hopkinson试验取得的高导无氧铜高应变率本构模型,并不适合描述平面冲击波载荷下的本构特性. 关键词： 本构模型 高导无氧铜 平面冲击波试验 锰铜应力计     

Excitation of even configurations of a nickel atom containing nine 3d electrons

The electron-impact excitation of even levels of the nickel atom belonging to configurations that contain nine 3d electrons is studied by the method of extended crossing beams. Ninety-six excitation cross sections are measured at an exciting electron energy of 50 eV. Seven optical excitation functions are recorded in the exciting electron energy range of 0–200 eV. Total excitation cross sections are determined for 24 energy levels of the nickel atom.     

Melting of metallic hydrogen at high pressures

The Lindemann equation was used to calculate the melting of metallic hydrogen. It is shown that, after transition from the molecular dielectric phase to the atomic metallic phase, hydrogen becomes a quantum liquid because of the atomic zero-point vibrations. The phase diagram of hydrogen is unique in that the molecular phase is the only solid phase of hydrogen.     

Melting line of hydrogen at high pressures

The insulator to metal transition in solid hydrogen was predicted over 70 years ago but the demonstration of this transition remains a scientific challenge. In this regard, a peak in the temperature versus pressure melting line of hydrogen may be a possible precursor for metallization. However, previous measurements of the fusion curve of hydrogen have been limited in pressure and temperature by diffusion of hydrogen into the gasket or diamonds. To overcome this limitation we have used an innovative technique of pulsed laser heating of the sample and find a peak in the melting line at P=64.7+/-4 GPa and T=1055+/-20 K.     

Streaking at high energies with electrons and positrons

A detection scheme for characterizing high-energy γ-ray pulses down to the zeptosecond timescale is proposed. In contrast to existing attosecond metrology techniques, our method is not limited by atomic shell physics and therefore capable of breaking the MeV photon energy and attosecond time-scale barriers. It is inspired by attosecond streak imaging, but builds upon the high-energy process of electron-positron pair production in vacuum through the collision of a test pulse with an intense laser pulse. We discuss necessary conditions to render the scheme feasible in the upcoming Extreme Light Infrastructure laser facility.     

Melting of aluminum nitride at atmospheric nitrogen pressure

Experimental results on the melting of aluminum nitride heated by an electric arc burning in a nitrogen atmosphere at a pressure of 0.2–0.3 MPa are presented. A qualitative explanation of the dissociation suppression mechanism under arc heating is proposed. It has been shown that the suppression is possible at atmospheric pressure due to the photoactivation of aluminum on the sample surface by resonant radiation of aluminum vapors present in the electric arc.     

The measured energy loss of high energy electrons in copper and lead

The energy distributions of electrons of about 53, 75 and 93 MeV have been measured before and after passing through copper absorber of thickness up to 5.726 g/cm² and lead absorbers of thickness up to 2.825 g/cm². Earlier data for aluminum absorbers are reviewed. The electrons were accelerated by the LINAC of the Naval Postgraduate School. The most probable energy losses agree with the theory of Blunck and Westphal for all thicknesses; the half widths agree except for large thicknesses, where they are smaller than theoretical values for lead, in agreement for copper, and larger for aluminum. Large numbers of electrons of energy less than 30 MeV are observed in the distributions of transmitted electrons, particularly for thick absorbers and higher values of atomic number. These are apparently the result of multiple processes in the absorbers.     

Behavior of copper under high pressure: Experimental and theoretical analyses

The physical properties of high-purity copper under high pressure were investigated with X-ray diffraction(XRD) using the 3rd generation synchrotron radiation and a diamond anvil cell(DAC) and First-principles calculation using ab-initio simulation program. And they differ 15 % from those reported in the past. The previously reported experimental isothermal bulk moduli for polycrystalline copper and single crystalline copper are 140.2 ± 3.9 GP and 137.6 ± 0.2 GPa respectively, and the theoretical isothermal bulk modulus of copper is 134.6 GPa [1–20]. However, the recently measured bulk moduli of copper are 120.8 ± 4.4 GPa for polycrystal and 120.7 ± 2.1 GPa for single crystal respectively. The difference might mainly come from the purity of copper owing to the development of scientific technology, and the 3-dimensional effect of defects in nearly pure(perfect) crystalline materials was first observed by using DAC and XRD.     

Melting temperature of lead and sodium at high pressures

We have redetermined the melting temperature of lead and sodium as a function of pressure in a new pressure cell made up of low strength materials. Many of the anomalies reported in a prior determination of the melting curve of lead have largely disappeared. The slope of our new melting curve for lead is in close agreement with the slope computed from thermochemical data.One new curve for sodium differs only slightly from the prior published curves.     

Melting behaviours of nickel nanorods

We report the synthesis and measurement of an ultra-precise and extremely stable optical frequency in the telecommunications window around 1543 nm. Using a fibre-based femtosecond frequency comb we have phase-stabilised a fibre laser at 194 THz to an optical frequency standard at 344 THz, thus transferring the properties of the optical frequency standard to another spectral region. Relative to the optical frequency standard, the synthesised frequency at 194 THz is determined to within 1 mHz and its fractional frequency instability is measured to be less than 2×10^-15 at 1 s, reaching 5× 10^-18 after 8000 s. We also measured the synthesised frequency against a caesium fountain clock: here the frequency comparison itself contributes less than 4 mHz (2×10^-17) to the uncertainty. Our results confirm the suitability of fibre based frequency comb technology for precision measurements and frequency synthesis, and enable long-distance comparison of optical clocks by using optical fibres to transmit the frequency information.     

Deformation characteristics of nanocrystalline copper and nickel at low temperatures

Measurements were made of the deformation and fracture characteristics of nanocrystalline copper and nickel at temperatures between 4.2 and 300 K. It was observed that the flow stresses are sensitive to the sign of the load while deformation instability was observed at temperatures close to liquid-helium temperature. The temperature dependence of the yield stress was obtained. It was found that there is a range of a thermal deformation at low temperatures which extends to 60 K for nickel and 200 K for copper. Possible reasons for these characteristics in the deformation behavior of nanocrystalline materials are discussed, especially the role of quantum effects in the low-temperature deformation. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1264–1267 (July 1998)     

Observation of high transverse momentum electrons at the CERN ISR

A search for high transverse momentum electrons directly produced in proton-proton collisions has been performed at the CERN ISR. The apparatus included a magnetic spectrometer with wire spark chambers, a lead-glass counter array, and a threshold gas ?erenkov counter. At a centre-of-mass energy √s = 52.7 GeV, a signal has been observed in the range $\text{1.6<p}{}_{\mathrm{T}}{}^1\text{<4.7}\text{GeV}\text{/c}$. The signal occurs at a level of approximately 10^?4 of the inclusive pion cross-section.     

Hardness of materials at high temperature and high pressure

The intrinsic character of the correlation between hardness and thermodynamic properties of solids has been established. The proposed thermodynamic model of hardness allows one to easily estimate hardness and bulk moduli of known or even hypothetical solids from the data on Gibbs energy of atomization of the elements or on the enthalpy at the melting point. The correctness of this approach is illustrated by an example of the recently synthesized superhard diamond-like BC₅ and orthorhombic modification of boron, γ-B₂₈. The pressure and/or temperature dependences of hardness were calculated for a number of hard and superhard phases, i.e. diamond, cBN, B₆O, B₄C, SiC, Al₂O₃, β-B₂O₃ and β-rh boron. Excellent agreement between experimental and calculated values is observed for temperature dependences of Vickers and Knoop hardness. In addition, the model predicts that some materials can become harder than diamond at pressures in the megabar range.