Femtosecond X-Ray Diffraction Studies of the Reversal of the Microstructural Effects of Plastic Deformation during Shock Release of Tantalum

M Sliwa and D McGonegle and C Wehrenberg and CA Bolme and PG Heighway and A Higginbotham and A Lazicki and HJ Lee and B Nagler and HS Park and RE Rudd and MJ Suggit and D Swift and F Tavella and L Zepeda-Ruiz and BA Remington and JS Wark, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 120, 265502 (2018).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.265502

We have used femtosecond x-ray diffraction to study laser-shocked fiber- textured polycrystalline tantalum targets as the 37-253 GPa shock waves break out from the free surface. We extract the time and depth-dependent strain profiles within the Ta target as the rarefaction wave travels back into the bulk of the sample. In agreement with molecular dynamics simulations, the lattice rotation and the twins that are formed under shock compression are observed to be almost fully eliminated by the rarefaction process.

Return to Publications page