With the aid of nanosecond time-resolved X-ray diffraction techniques, we have explored the complex structural dynamics of bismuth under laser-driven compression. The results demonstrate that shocked bismuth undergoes a series of structural transformations involving four solid structures: the Bi-I, Bi-II, Bi-III and Bi-V phases. The transformation from the Bi-I phase to the Bi-V phase occurs within 4 ns under shock compression at ~11 GPa, showing no transient phases with the available experimental conditions. Successive phase transitions (Bi-V->Bi-III->Bi-II->Bi-I) during the shock release within 30 ns have also been resolved, which were inaccessible using other dynamic techniques.
@article{arxiv.1310.1150,
title = {Complex structural dynamics of bismuth under laser-driven compression},
author = {Jianbo Hu and Kouhei Ichiyanagi and Tomoaki Doki and Arihiro Goto and Takayuki Eda and Katsura Norimatsu and Shinichi Harada and Dai Horiuchi and Yuki Kabasawa and Shingo Hayashi and Shin-ichi Uozumi and Nobuaki Kawai and Shunsuke Nozawa and Tokushi Sato and Shin-ichi Adachi and Kazutaka G. Nakamura},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1310.1150},
year = {2015}
}