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DOE OSTI · 1686088

Structural changes in liquid lithium under high-pressure

Abstract

In this paper, we have experimentally studied the effect of compression on the structure of liquid lithium (Li) by multi-angle energy dispersive X-ray diffraction in a large-volume cupped-Drickamer-Toroidal cell. The structure factors, s(q), of liquid Li have been successfully determined under an isothermal compression at 600 ± 30 K and at pressures up to 11.5 GPa. The first peak position in s(q) is found to increase with increasing pressure and showing an obvious slope change starting at ~7.5 GPa. The slope change is interpreted as a structural change from bcc-like to fcc-like local ordering in liquid Li. At pressures above 8.7 GPa, the liquid Li becomes predominantly fcc-like up to the highest pressure of 11.5 GPa in this study. The observed structural changes in liquid Li are consistent with the recently determined melting curve of Li.

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Shu, Yu, Kono, Yoshio, Ohira, Itaru, Hrubiak, Rostislav, Kenney-Benson, Curtis, Somayazulu, Maddury, Velisavljevic, Nenad, Shen, Guoyin. 2020-07-21. Structural changes in liquid lithium under high-pressure. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c05324

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