Abstract
A liquid carbon (-C) sample is generated through constant volume heating exposing an amorphous carbon foil to an intense ultrashort laser pulse. Time-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the C edge is used to monitor the dynamics of the melting process revealing a subpicosecond rearrangement of the electronic structure associated with a sudden change of the C bonding hybridization. The obtained -C sample, resulting from a nonthermal melting mechanism, reaches a transient equilibrium condition with a temperature of about 14 200 K and pressure in the order of 0.5 Mbar in about 0.3 ps, prior to hydrodynamic expansion. A detailed analysis of the atomic and electronic structure in solid-density -C based on time-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy and theoretical simulations is presented. The method can be fruitfully used for extending the experimental investigation of the C phase diagram in a vast unexplored region covering the temperature range with pressures up to 1 Mbar.
- Received 3 April 2020
- Accepted 1 September 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.155703
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