Structural Transformation and Melting in Gold Shock Compressed to 355GPa.

Abstract

Gold is believed to retain its ambient crystal structure at very high pressures under static and shock compression, enabling its wide use as a pressure marker. Our insitu x-ray diffraction measurements on shock-compressed gold show that it transforms to the body-centered-cubic (bcc) phase, with an onset pressure between 150 and 176GPa. A liquid-bcc coexistence was observed between 220 and 302GPa and complete melting occurs by 355GPa. Our observation of the lower coordination bcc structure in shocked gold is in marked contrast to theoretical predictions and the reported observation of the hexagonal-close-packed structure under static compression.