Phase Transitions in Solids Stimulated by Simultaneous Exposure to High Pressure and Relativistic Heavy Ions

Ulrich A. Glasmacher, Maik Lang, Hans Keppler, Falko Langenhorst, Reinhard Neumann, Dieter Schardt, Christina Trautmann, and Günther A. Wagner
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 195701 – Published 17 May 2006

Abstract

In many solids, heavy ions of high kinetic energy (MeV-GeV) produce long cylindrical damage trails with diameters of order 10 nm. Up to now, no information was available how solids cope with the simultaneous exposure to these energetic projectiles and to high pressure. We report the first experiments where relativistic uranium and gold ions from the SIS heavy-ion synchrotron at GSI were injected through several mm of diamond into solid samples pressurized up to 14 GPa in a diamond anvil cell. In synthetic graphite and natural zircon, the combination of pressure and ion beams triggered drastic structural changes not caused by the applied pressure or the ions alone. The modifications comprise long-range amorphization of graphite rather than individual track formation, and in the case of zircon the decomposition into nanocrystals and nucleation of the high-pressure phase reidite.

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  • Received 9 November 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.195701

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Ulrich A. Glasmacher1,*,†, Maik Lang2, Hans Keppler3, Falko Langenhorst4, Reinhard Neumann2, Dieter Schardt2, Christina Trautmann2, and Günther A. Wagner1,5

  • 1Forschungsstelle Archäometrie der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften am Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69029 Heidelberg, Germany
  • 2Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI), Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
  • 3Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universität Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
  • 4Institut für Geowissenschaften, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Burgweg 11, 07749 Jena, Germany
  • 5Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69029 Heidelberg, Germany

  • *Present address: Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls Universität Heidelberg, Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
  • Corresponding author. Electronic address: ua.glasmacher@mpi-hd.mpg.de

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Vol. 96, Iss. 19 — 19 May 2006

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