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    Measurement of diamond nucleation rates from hydrocarbons at conditions comparable to the interiors of icy giant planets
    (Woodbury, NY : Inst., 2020) Schuster, A.K.; Hartley, N.J.; Vorberger, J.; Döppner, T.; Van Driel, T.; Falcone, R.W.; Fletcher, L.B.; Frydrych, S.; Galtier, E.; Gamboa, E.J.; Gericke, D.O.; Glenzer, S.H.; Granados, E.; MacDonald, M.J.; MacKinnon, A.J.; McBride, E.E.; Nam, I.; Neumayer, P.; Pak, A.; Prencipe, I.; Voigt, K.; Saunders, A.M.; Sun, P.; Kraus, D.
    We present measurements of the nucleation rate into a diamond lattice in dynamically compressed polystyrene obtained in a pump-probe experiment using a high-energy laser system and in situ femtosecond x-ray diffraction. Different temperature-pressure conditions that occur in planetary interiors were probed. For a single shock reaching 70 GPa and 3000 K no diamond formation was observed, while with a double shock driving polystyrene to pressures around 150 GPa and temperatures around 5000 K nucleation rates between 1029 and 1034m-3 s-1 were recorded. These nucleation rates do not agree with predictions of the state-of-the-art theoretical models for carbon-hydrogen mixtures by many orders of magnitude. Our data suggest that there is significant diamond formation to be expected inside icy giant planets like Neptune and Uranus. © 2020 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.
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    Recovery of release cloud from laser shock-loaded graphite and hydrocarbon targets: in search of diamonds
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2022) Schuster, A.K.; Voigt, K.; Klemmed, B.; Hartley, N.J.; Lütgert, J.; Zhang, M.; Bähtz, C.; Benad, A.; Brabetz, C.; Cowan, T.; Döppner, T.; Erb, D.J.; Eychmüller, A.; Facsko, S.; Falcone, R.W.; Fletcher, L.B.; Frydrych, S.; Ganzenmüller, G.C.; Gericke, D.O.; Glenzer, S.H.; Grenzer, J.; Helbig, U.; Hiermaier, S.; Hübner, R.; Laso Garcia, A.; Lee, H.J.; MacDonald, M.J.; McBride, E.E.; Neumayer, P.; Pak, A.; Pelka, A.; Prencipe, I.; Prosvetov, A.; Rack, A.; Ravasio, A.; Redmer, R.; Reemts, D.; Rödel, M.; Schoelmerich, M.; Schumacher, D.; Tomut, M.; Turner, S.J.; Saunders, A.M.; Sun, P.; Vorberger, J.; Zettl, A.; Kraus, D.
    This work presents first insights into the dynamics of free-surface release clouds from dynamically compressed polystyrene and pyrolytic graphite at pressures up to 200 GPa, where they transform into diamond or lonsdaleite, respectively. These ejecta clouds are released into either vacuum or various types of catcher systems, and are monitored with high-speed recordings (frame rates up to 10 MHz). Molecular dynamics simulations are used to give insights to the rate of diamond preservation throughout the free expansion and the catcher impact process, highlighting the challenges of diamond retrieval. Raman spectroscopy data show graphitic signatures on a catcher plate confirming that the shock-compressed PS is transformed. First electron microscopy analyses of solid catcher plates yield an outstanding number of different spherical-like objects in the size range between ten(s) up to hundreds of nanometres, which are one type of two potential diamond candidates identified. The origin of some objects can unambiguously be assigned, while the history of others remains speculative.