Natalia Dubrovinskaia

Body-centered cubic iron-nickel alloy in Earth's core.

Cosmochemical, geochemical, and geophysical studies provide evidence that Earths core contains iron with substantial (5 to 15%) amounts of nickel. The iron-nickel alloy Fe0.9Ni0.1 has been studied in situ by means of angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction in internally heated diamond anvil cells (DACs), and its resistance has been measured as a function of pressure and temperature. At pressures above 225 gigapascals and temperatures over 3400 kelvin, Fe0.9Ni0.1 adopts a body-centered cubic structure. Our experimental and theoretical results not only support the interpretation of shockwave data on pure iron as showing a solid-solid phase transition above about 200 gigapascals, but also suggest that iron alloys with geochemically reasonable compositions (that is, with substantial nickel, sulfur, or silicon content) adopt the bcc structure in Earths inner core.

Superhard nanocomposite of dense polymorphs of boron nitride: Noncarbon material has reached diamond hardness

The authors report a synthesis of unique superhard aggregated boron nitride nanocomposites (ABNNCs) showing the enhancement of hardness up to 100% in comparison with single crystal c-BN. Such a great hardness increase is due to the combination of the Hall-Petch and the quantum confinement effects. The decrease of the grain size down to 14nm and the simultaneous formation of the two dense BN phases with hexagonal and cubic structures within the grains at nano- and subnanolevel result in enormous mechanical property enhancement with maximum hardness of 85(5)GPa. Thus, ABNNC is the first non-carbon-based bulk material with the value of hard-ness approaching that of single crystal and polycrystalline diamond and aggregated diamond nanorods. ABNNC also has an unusually high fracture toughness for superhard materials (K1C=15MPam0.5) and wear resistance (WH=11; compare, for industrial polycrystalline diamond, WH=3–4), in combination with high thermal stability (above 1600K in air), making it an exceptional super...

BX90: A new diamond anvil cell design for X-ray diffraction and optical measurements

We present a new design of a universal diamond anvil cell, suitable for different kinds of experimental studies under high pressures. Main features of the cell are an ultimate 90-degrees symmetrical axial opening and high stability, making the presented cell design suitable for a whole range of techniques from optical absorption to single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies, also in combination with external resistive or double-side laser heating. Three examples of the cell applications are provided: a Brillouin scattering of neon, single-crystal X-ray diffraction of α-Cr(2)O(3), and resistivity measurements on the (Mg(0.60)Fe(0.40))(Si(0.63)Al(0.37))O(3) silicate perovskite.

Implementation of micro-ball nanodiamond anvils for high-pressure studies above 6 Mbar.

Since invention of the diamond anvil cell technique in the late 1950s for studying materials at extreme conditions, the maximum static pressure generated so far at room temperature was reported to be about 400 GPa. Here we show that use of micro-semi-balls made of nanodiamond as second-stage anvils in conventional diamond anvil cells drastically extends the achievable pressure range in static compression experiments to above 600 GPa. Micro-anvils (10–50 μm in diameter) of superhard nanodiamond (with a grain size below ∼50 nm) were synthesized in a large volume press using a newly developed technique. In our pilot experiments on rhenium and gold we have studied the equation of state of rhenium at pressures up to 640 GPa and demonstrated the feasibility and crucial necessity of the in situ ultra high-pressure measurements for accurate determination of material properties at extreme conditions.

Iron–silica interaction at extreme conditions and the electrically conducting layer at the base of Earth's mantle

The boundary between the Earths metallic core and its silicate mantle is characterized by strong lateral heterogeneity and sharp changes in density, seismic wave velocities, electrical conductivity and chemical composition. To investigate the composition and properties of the lowermost mantle, an understanding of the chemical reactions that take place between liquid iron and the complex Mg-Fe-Si-Al-oxides of the Earths lower mantle is first required. Here we present a study of the interaction between iron and silica (SiO2) in electrically and laser-heated diamond anvil cells. In a multianvil apparatus at pressures up to 140 GPa and temperatures over 3,800 K we simulate conditions down to the core–mantle boundary. At high temperature and pressures below 40 GPa, iron and silica react to form iron oxide and an iron–silicon alloy, with up to 5 wt% silicon. At pressures of 85–140 GPa, however, iron and SiO2 do not react and iron–silicon alloys dissociate into almost pure iron and a CsCl-structured (B2) FeSi compound. Our experiments suggest that a metallic silicon-rich B2 phase, produced at the core–mantle boundary (owing to reactions between iron and silicate), could accumulate at the boundary between the mantle and core and explain the anomalously high electrical conductivity of this region.

Whole-cell heater for the diamond anvil cell

An external heating assemblage allowing diamond anvil cell (DAC) experiments at megabar pressures and temperatures above 1200 K was constructed. The complete high-pressure high-temperature system consists of an anvil assembly made from a special high-temperature alloy, a mechanical loading mechanism, and external resistive heaters placed around the cell. The new system allows fine adjustment of the pressure (within 1 GPa) over the whole temperature range. It maintains constant pressure (within 1 GPa at megabar pressures) and constant temperature (within 5 K at 1000 K) for several hours. Temperature is measured with an external thermocouple. The pressure chamber does not have a measurable temperature gradient. The new heating assemblage is easily coupled with a experimental setup at synchrotron radiation facilities and Raman spectrometers. We tested the performance of the new system by measuring the thermal expansion of Fe0.90Ni0.05 at different pressures and by studying phase transformations in TiO2 and t...

Discovery of a Superhard Iron Tetraboride Superconductor

Single crystals of novel orthorhombic (space group Pnnm) iron tetraboride FeB4 were synthesized at pressures above 8 GPa and high temperatures. Magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity measurements demonstrate bulk superconductivity below 2.9 K. The putative isotope effect on the superconducting critical temperature and the analysis of specific heat data indicate that the superconductivity in FeB4 is likely phonon mediated, which is rare for Fe-based superconductors. The discovered iron tetraboride is highly incompressible and has the nanoindentation hardness of 62(5) GPa; thus, it opens a new class of highly desirable materials combining advanced mechanical properties and superconductivity.

Pressure-induced transformations of cristobalite

X-ray in situ studies in electrically and laser-heated diamond anvil cells (DACs) at pressures over 80 cpa and temperatures above 2500 K were used to determine stable silica phase at extreme conditions. We demonstrate that so far unidentified phases obtai

Aggregated diamond nanorods, the densest and least compressible form of carbon

We report the synthesis of aggregated diamond nanorods (ADNRs) from fullerene C60 at 20(1) GPa and 2200  °C using a multianvil apparatus. Individual diamond nanoroads are of 5–20 nm in diameter and longer than 1μm. The x-ray and measured density of ADNRs is ∼0.2%–0.4% higher than that of usual diamond. The extremely high isothermal bulk modulus KT=491(3)GPa [compare to KT=442(4)GPa of diamond] was obtained by in situ x-ray diffraction study. Thus, ADNRs is the densest among all carbon materials and it has the lowest so far experimentally determined compressibility.

Lonsdaleite is faulted and twinned cubic diamond and does not exist as a discrete material

Lonsdaleite, also called hexagonal diamond, has been widely used as a marker of asteroidal impacts. It is thought to play a central role during the graphite-to-diamond transformation, and calculations suggest that it possesses mechanical properties superior to diamond. However, despite extensive efforts, lonsdaleite has never been produced or described as a separate, pure material. Here we show that defects in cubic diamond provide an explanation for the characteristic d-spacings and reflections reported for lonsdaleite. Ultrahigh-resolution electron microscope images demonstrate that samples displaying features attributed to lonsdaleite consist of cubic diamond dominated by extensive {113} twins and {111} stacking faults. These defects give rise to nanometre-scale structural complexity. Our findings question the existence of lonsdaleite and point to the need for re-evaluating the interpretations of many lonsdaleite-related fundamental and applied studies.