High Pressure Studies of Magnesium at the National Ignition Facility

位于劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室的国家点火设备(NIF)正在使用动态压缩技术研究镁的结构行为，LCLS X射线自由电子激光器(XFEL)正在进行进一步的工作。镁是一种相对简单的金属，预计它会在数百万巴的压力下转变为所谓的电子相，价电子在那里局域化，形成一个亚晶格。我们可以在NIF上获得这样的压力。将使用几种不同的技术来研究这些高压相，包括X射线衍射，以推断系统的结构特征。这项研究的结果将提供关于简单金属在超高压下压缩时的行为的详细信息。

The structural behaviour of magnesium is being studied using dynamic compression techniques at the National Ignition Facility(NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, with further work being carried out at the LCLS x-ray free electron laser (XFEL). Magnesium is a relatively simple metal, which is predicted to transform to so-called electride phases, where the valence electrons localise to from a sub-lattice, at multi-megabar pressures. We can attain such pressures on the NIF. Several different techniques will be employed to study these high-pressure phases, including x-ray diffraction to infer the structural characteristics of the system. The results of this study will provide detailed information as to how simple metals behave when compressed to ultra-high pressures.