Combined ultrasonic elastic wave velocity and microtomography measurements at high pressures

The development of internal pressure standards for in-house elastic wave velocity measurements in multi-anvil presses

Ultrasonic systems are powerful tools to determine elastic wave velocities of minerals and materials at high pressure and temperature and have been extensively developed in recent decades. However, accurate measurement of sample length is required to convert travel times into wave velocities, limiting their use to synchrotron facilities or room temperature experiments in laboratories. We have made use of a close collaboration between the Bayerisches Geoinstiut and the P61B end-station beamline (PETRA III - DESY) to install ultrasonic systems and develop a novel dual travel time method for in situ pressure determination without the need for synchrotron radiation. Our method relies on the travel times of elastic waves through a reference material; it requires a thermocouple and is non-intrusive, with the reference material replacing the backing plate of the high-pressure assembly. Pressures obtained from this dual travel time method show excellent agreement with those obtained from x-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation on standard materials. Our novel method enables in situ pressure determination at varying temperatures during in-house ultrasonic interferometry experiments. This allows us not only to determine the elastic behavior of minerals and materials but also to investigate phase diagrams, solidus, or liquidus conditions at varying pressures and temperatures during in-house experiments. During the installation of the pulse-echo ultrasonic system, we identified critical parameters for obtaining reliable data. While these requirements are well-known to experts, this study presents a comprehensive review of the different characteristics of ultrasonic systems, providing user-friendly guidelines for new users installing and operating such systems in high-pressure and high-temperature conditions.

Experimental evidence of tetrahedral symmetry breaking in SiO2 glass under pressure

Bimodal behavior in the translational order of silicon's second shell in SiO₂ liquid at high temperatures and high pressures has been recognized in theoretical studies, and the fraction of the S state with high tetrahedrality is considered as structural origin of the anomalous properties. However, it has not been well identified in experiment. Here we show experimental evidence of a bimodal behavior in the translational order of silicon's second shell in SiO₂ glass under pressure. SiO₂ glass shows tetrahedral symmetry structure with separation between the first and second shells of silicon at low pressures, which corresponds to the S state structure reported in SiO₂ liquid. On the other hand, at high pressures, the silicon's second shell collapses onto the first shell, and more silicon atoms locate in the first shell. These observations indicate breaking of local tetrahedral symmetry in SiO₂ glass under pressure, as well as SiO₂ liquid.

Density of NaAlSi2O6 Melt at High Pressure and Temperature Measured by In-Situ X-ray Microtomography

In this study, the volumetric compression of jadeite (NaAlSi2O6) melt at high pressures was determined by three-dimensional volume imaging using the synchrotron-based X-ray microtomography technique in a rotation-anvil device. Combined with the sample mass, measured using a high-precision analytical balance prior to the high-pressure experiment, the density of jadeite melt was obtained at high pressures and high temperatures up to 4.8 GPa and 1955 K. The density data were fitted to a third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state, resulting in a best-fit isothermal bulk modulus K T 0 of 10.8 − 5.3 + 1.9 GPa and its pressure derivative K T 0 ′ of 3.4 − 0.4 + 6.6 . Comparison with data for silicate melts of various compositions from the literature shows that alkali-rich, polymerized melts are generally more compressible than alkali-poor, depolymerized ones. The high compressibility of jadeite melt at high pressures implies that polymerized sodium aluminosilicate melts, if generated by low-degree partial melting of mantle peridotite at ~250–400 km depth in the deep upper mantle, are likely denser than surrounding mantle materials, and thus gravitationally stable.

Pressure Induced Densification and Compression in a Reprocessed Borosilicate Glass

Pressure induced densification and compression of a reprocessed sample of borosilicate glass has been studied by X-ray radiography and energy dispersive X-ray diffraction using a Paris-Edinburgh (PE) press at a synchrotron X-ray source. The reprocessing of a commercial borosilicate glass was carried out by cyclical melting and cooling. Gold foil pressure markers were used to obtain the sample pressure by X-ray diffraction using its known equation of state, while X-ray radiography provided a direct measure of the sample volume at high pressure. The X-ray radiography method for volume measurements at high pressures was validated for a known sample of pure α-Iron to 6.3 GPa. A sample of reprocessed borosilicate glass was compressed to 11.4 GPa using the PE cell, and the flotation density of pressure recovered sample was measured to be 2.755 gm/cc, showing an increase in density of 24%, as compared to the starting sample. The initial compression of the reprocessed borosilicate glass measured by X-ray radiography resulted in a bulk modulus of 30.3 GPa in good agreement with the 32.9 GPa value derived from the known elastic constants. This method can be applied to variety of amorphous materials under high pressures.

Elastic properties of silicate melts: Implications for low velocity zones at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary

Low seismic velocity regions in the mantle and crust are commonly attributed to the presence of silicate melts. Determining melt volume and geometric distribution is fundamental to understanding planetary dynamics. We present a new model for seismic velocity reductions that accounts for the anomalous compressibility of silicate melt, rendering compressional wave velocities more sensitive to melt fraction and distribution than previous estimates. Forward modeling predicts comparable velocity reductions for compressional and shear waves for partially molten mantle, and for low velocity regions associated with the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), melt present at <5% distributed in near-textural equilibrium. These findings reconcile seismic observations for the LAB regionally and locally and favor models of strong coupling across the LAB rather than melt channeling due to shear deformation.

Anomalous elastic properties across the γ to α volume collapse in cerium

The behavior of the f-electrons in the lanthanides and actinides governs important macroscopic properties but their pressure and temperature dependence is not fully explored. Cerium with nominally just one 4f electron offers a case study with its iso-structural volume collapse from the γ-phase to the α-phase ending in a critical point (p_C, V_C, T_C), unique among the elements, whose mechanism remains controversial. Here, we present longitudinal (c_L) and transverse sound speeds (c_T) versus pressure from higher than room temperature to T_C for the first time. While c_L experiences a non-linear dip at the volume collapse, c_T shows a step-like change. This produces very peculiar macroscopic properties: the minimum in the bulk modulus becomes more pronounced, the step-like increase of the shear modulus diminishes and the Poisson’s ratio becomes negative—meaning that cerium becomes auxetic. At the critical point itself cerium lacks any compressive strength but offers resistance to shear.

The origin of the volume collapse of cerium, the only elemental metal with a critical point in the solid phase, remains elusive. Here the authors show that, near the critical point, the f-electrons make cerium lose its compressive strength while maintaining a finite shear strength—which makes cerium unexpectedly auxetic.

DIASCoPE: Directly integrated acoustic system combined with pressure experiments-A new method for fast acoustic velocity measurements at high pressure

A new experimental system to measure elastic wave velocities in samples in situ under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature in a multi-anvil apparatus has been installed at Beamline 6-BM-B of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. This system allows for measurement of acoustic velocities via ultrasonic interferometry, and makes use of the synchrotron beam to measure sample densities via X-ray diffraction and sample lengths using X-radiographic imaging. This system is fully integrated into the automated software controls of the beamline and is capable of collecting robust data on elastic wave travel times in less than 1 s, which is an improvement of more than one to two orders of magnitude over existing systems. Moreover, this fast data collection time has been shown to have no effect on the obtained travel time results. This allows for more careful study of time-dependent phenomena with tighter snapshots in time of processes that would otherwise be lost or averaged out in other acoustic measurement systems.

Networks under pressure: the development of in situ high-pressure neutron diffraction for glassy and liquid materials

The pressure-driven collapse in the structure of network-forming materials will be considered in the gigapascal (GPa) regime, where the development of in situ high-pressure neutron diffraction has enabled this technique to obtain new structural information. The improvements to the neutron diffraction methodology are discussed, and the complementary nature of the results is illustrated by considering the pressure-driven structural transformations for several key network-forming materials that have also been investigated by using other experimental techniques such as x-ray diffraction, inelastic x-ray scattering, x-ray absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. A starting point is provided by the pressure-driven network collapse of the prototypical network-forming oxide glasses B2O3, SiO2 and GeO2. Here, the combined results help to show that the coordination number of network-forming structural motifs in a wide range of glassy and liquid oxide materials can be rationalised in terms of the oxygen-packing fraction over an extensive pressure and temperature range. The pressure-driven network collapse of the prototypical chalcogenide glass GeSe2 is also considered where, as for the case of glassy GeO2, site-specific structural information is now available from the method of in situ high-pressure neutron diffraction with isotope substitution. The application of in situ high-pressure neutron diffraction to other structurally disordered network-forming materials is also summarised. In all of this work a key theme concerns the rich diversity in the mechanisms of network collapse, which drive the changes in physico-chemical properties of these materials. A more complete picture of the mechanisms is provided by molecular dynamics simulations using theoretical schemes that give a good account of the experimental results.

Strength and Debye temperature measurements of cerium across the γ → α volume collapse: the lattice contribution

The longitudinal and transverse sound speeds, cL and cT, of polycrystalline cerium were measured under pressure across the iso-structural γ-α phase transition at 0.75 GPa to beyond 3 GPa. In contrast to previous methods all quantities were directly obtained and no assumptions were made about the size of the volume collapse. Up to the transition our values for cL are in excellent agreement with previous ones, while our values for cT are significantly lower. We deduce values for the adiabatic bulk modulus BS, the shear modulus [Formula: see text], and the pressure dependent Debye temperature, ΘD(p). ΘD(p) is in good agreement with recent results derived from phonon dispersion measurements on single crystals. The ratio of the Debye temperature values bracketing the transition indicates a lattice contribution to the entropy change across the volume collapse, ΔSvib(γ → α) ≈ (0.68 ± 0.06)kB, consistent with previous results obtained by neutron scattering, but significantly larger than other previously determined values.

Simultaneous structure and elastic wave velocity measurement of SiO2 glass at high pressures and high temperatures in a Paris-Edinburgh cell

An integration of multi-angle energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction and ultrasonic elastic wave velocity measurements in a Paris-Edinburgh cell enabled us to simultaneously investigate the structures and elastic wave velocities of amorphous materials at high pressure and high temperature conditions. We report the first simultaneous structure and elastic wave velocity measurement for SiO(2) glass at pressures up to 6.8 GPa at around 500°C. The first sharp diffraction peak (FSDP) in the structure factor S(Q) evidently shifted to higher Q with increasing pressure, reflecting the shrinking of intermediate-range order, while the Si-O bond distance was almost unchanged up to 6.8 GPa. In correlation with the shift of FSDP position, compressional wave velocity (Vp) and Poisson's ratio increased markedly with increasing pressure. In contrast, shear wave velocity (Vs) changed only at pressures below 4 GPa, and then remained unchanged at ~4.0-6.8 GPa. These observations indicate a strong correlation between the intermediate range order variations and Vp or Poisson's ratio, but a complicated behavior for Vs. The result demonstrates a new capability of simultaneous measurement of structures and elastic wave velocities at high pressure and high temperature conditions to provide direct link between microscopic structure and macroscopic elastic properties of amorphous materials.