The Creation and Diagnosis of Solid-State Matter at Multi-TeraPascal Pressures
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Malcolm McMahon (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Briggs R
(2019)
Coordination changes in liquid tin under shock compression determined using in situ femtosecond x-ray diffraction
in Applied Physics Letters
Briggs R
(2017)
Ultrafast X-Ray Diffraction Studies of the Phase Transitions and Equation of State of Scandium Shock Compressed to 82 GPa.
in Physical review letters
Briggs R
(2017)
Phase transitions in shock compressed bismuth identified using single photon energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (SPEDX)
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Coleman A
(2017)
Implementation of Hydrodynamic Simulation Code in Shock Experiment Design for Alkali Metals
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Coleman AL
(2019)
Identification of Phase Transitions and Metastability in Dynamically Compressed Antimony Using Ultrafast X-Ray Diffraction.
in Physical review letters
Gorman M
(2019)
Recovery of metastable dense Bi synthesized by shock compression
in Applied Physics Letters
Gorman M
(2022)
Experimental observation of open structures in elemental magnesium at terapascal pressures
in Nature Physics
Gorman M
(2020)
Recovery of a high-pressure phase formed under laser-driven compression
in Physical Review B
Gorman MG
(2015)
Direct Observation of Melting in Shock-Compressed Bismuth With Femtosecond X-ray Diffraction.
in Physical review letters
Gorman MG
(2018)
Femtosecond diffraction studies of solid and liquid phase changes in shock-compressed bismuth.
in Scientific reports
| Description | We have discovered that complex structural forms of matter are created on nano-second timescales at extreme pressures and temperatures. This was unknown prior to our work, and the results have since formed the basis of a new successful funding application to EPSRC in 2018. Our results at the LCLS have established the UK as a leader in the field of XFEL studies of matter at extreme conditions. We will develope this further at the European-XFEL in Hamburg from 2020. The students and postdocs funded by this award have been highly sought after by other labs once they had finished in Edinburgh. Three are currently postdocs at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in the US, another is a fellow at the SLAC National Accelerator Lab, and another is a researcher at DESY. |
| Exploitation Route | Our continuation funding from EPSRC requested explicit funding to further develop UK research at the European-XFEL. We see this as a key impact of our new grant. |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine |
| Description | The findings from the LCLS were presented to AWE as a demonstration of how the techniques utilized can benefit their own research program. As a result, they became very interested in becoming involved in the European-XFEL research program from 2018. This has resulted in the award of a CASE top-up from AWE for an EPSRC studentship starting in Sept 2019. Since then AWW researchers have taken part in a number of experiments at EuXFEL, and are actively contributing to the case being prepared for a UKFEL. The results of the research obtained in this award formed part of the science case for a UK-FEL, which was submitted in 2023 and for which work is ongoing. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | STFC FEL Review |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.stfc.ac.uk/files/fel-report-2016/ |
| Description | CASE Award: Dynamic States in Diamond Anvil Cells |
| Amount | £24,541 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Atomic Weapons Establishment |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2019 |
| End | 08/2023 |
| Description | CASE Award: Melting of materials at extreme pressures |
| Amount | £47,762 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 40075526 |
| Organisation | Atomic Weapons Establishment |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2023 |
| End | 08/2027 |
| Description | Exploiting the European XFEL for a New Generation of High Energy Density and Materials Science |
| Amount | £659,756 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/S022155/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2019 |
| End | 01/2025 |
| Description | Studentship: Studying material strength properties using a diamond anvil cell and X-ray diffraction |
| Amount | £148,634 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 40075608 |
| Organisation | Atomic Weapons Establishment |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2023 |
| End | 08/2027 |
| Description | AWE |
| Organisation | Atomic Weapons Establishment |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We led the commissioning and first user experiment using the DiPOLE laser at EuXFEL. We helped develop new target mounts |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have participated in EuXFEL beamtime They have constructed targets They have awarded a fellowship to the PI |
| Impact | Numerous joint publication submitted |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | LLNL |
| Organisation | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We have collaborated with LLNL on experiments at LCLS and on the JANUS laser. We have submitted successful beamtime applications with them to Omega and NIF |
| Collaborator Contribution | Researchers from LLNL have taken the key role of correcting and analyzing the VISAR data from the forst DiPOLE experiment at EuXFEL. A LLNL researcher is also lead author on the first research paper from this experiment (recently - Feb 2024 - accepted for J Appl. Phys.) |
| Impact | Successful beam time applications Exploitation of the DiPOLE laser at EuXFEL. Publications |
| Description | Los Alamos National Lab |
| Organisation | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Researcher from LANL were key contributors to the commissioning of the new DiPOLE laser at EuXFEL, and the first user experiment lead by myself |
| Collaborator Contribution | Researchers from LANL attended the commissioning and experiments using DiPOLE at EuXFEL. They played an invaluable role in sample preparation, data analysis and data collection. |
| Impact | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.025501 |
| Start Year | 2016 |