Recovery of release cloud from laser shock-loaded graphite and hydrocarbon targets: in search of diamonds

AK Schuster and K Voigt and B Klemmed and NJ Hartley and J Luetgert and M Zhang and C Baehtz and A Benad and C Brabetz and T Cowan and T Döppner and DJ Erb and A Eychmüller and S Facsko and RW Falcone and LB Fletcher and S Frydrych and GC Ganzenmüller and DO Gericke and SH Glenzer and J Grenzer and U Helbig and S Hiermaier and R Hübner and AL Garcia and HJ Lee and MJ MacDonald and EE McBride and P Neumayer and A Pak and A Pelka and I Prencipe and A Prosvetov and A Rack and A Ravasio and R Redmer and D Reemts and M Rödel and M Schoelmerich and D Schumacher and M Tomut and SJ Turner and AM Saunders and P Sun and J Vorberger and A Zettl and D Kraus, JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS, 56, 025301 (2023).

DOI: 10.1088/1361-6463/ac99e8

This work presents first insights into the dynamics of free-surface release clouds from dynamically compressed polystyrene and pyrolytic graphite at pressures up to 200 GPa, where they transform into diamond or lonsdaleite, respectively. These ejecta clouds are released into either vacuum or various types of catcher systems, and are monitored with high-speed recordings (frame rates up to 10 MHz). Molecular dynamics simulations are used to give insights to the rate of diamond preservation throughout the free expansion and the catcher impact process, highlighting the challenges of diamond retrieval. Raman spectroscopy data show graphitic signatures on a catcher plate confirming that the shock-compressed PS is transformed. First electron microscopy analyses of solid catcher plates yield an outstanding number of different spherical-like objects in the size range between ten(s) up to hundreds of nanometres, which are one type of two potential diamond candidates identified. The origin of some objects can unambiguously be assigned, while the history of others remains speculative.

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