Extreme Static Compression of Carbon to Terapascal Pressures

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-3-2018

Publication Title

Carbon

Volume

144

First page number:

161

Last page number:

170

Abstract

Recent reports of record-setting ultrahigh static pressures achieved in diamond anvil cells (DACs, 495 GPa) and double-stage DACs (ds-DACs, 1 TPa) raise fundamental questions about mechanical response of diamond and related carbon structures under extreme compression. Here we present results from a combined first-principles calculation and finite-element analysis that unveil the mechanisms responsible for the greatly enhanced compressive strengths of these carbon structures by lateral confining stressesconcentrated near anvil tips, stemming from structural deformationsin compressed DACs and further strengthened by additional confining pressures in ds-DACs. Our results indicate that diamond anvils oriented in the [001] direction with a flat culet diameter of 20 μm can sustain peak pressures above 500 GPa, vastly exceeding its pure compressive strength of about 200 GPa. Among nano-carbon structures with enhanced shear strengths by nano- or grain-boundaries, we find that nano-twinned diamond possesses the highest compressive strength, reaching 1 TPa in ds-DAC settings, in agreement with experimental observations. The present findings establish key benchmarks and expand the realm of understanding of diamond and related carbon structures under extreme loadingconditions; these results offer crucial insights for rational design of advanced and novel DAC devices.

Disciplines

Physics

Language

English


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