Diffraction and spectroscopic assessment of crystallographic phase stability of potassium dihydrogen phosphate at shocked conditions

Abstract

In this experimental work, potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) has been analyzed systematically for its crystallographic structural stability in such a way that its structure has been examined periodically at 500 and 1000 shock waves loaded conditions. A Raman spectrometer and powder X-ray diffractometer (XRD) have been used to monitor the structural changes induced by shock waves in KDP samples. The observed Raman and XRD data reveal that no phase transition has occurred in the test crystal even at 1000 shocks loaded condition, but some structural deformations along with a few shoulder peaks are observed. Moreover, a few unknown crystalline peaks are observed at room temperature in the powder XRD pattern. It could be noted that, to the best of our knowledge as of now, such kinds of results in KDP crystal have not been observed.