Sound Velocity Measurement of Shock-Compressed Quartz at Extreme Conditions

The physical properties of basic minerals such as magnesium silicates, oxides, and silica at extreme conditions, up to 1000 s of GPa, are crucial to understand the behaviors of magma oceans and melting in Super-Earths discovered to data. Their sound velocity at the conditions relevant to the Super-Earth's mantle is a key parameter for melting process in determining the physical and chemical evolution of planetary interiors. In this article, we used laser indirectly driven shock compression for quartz to document the sound velocity of quartz at pressures of 270 GPa to 870 GPa during lateral unloadings in a high-power laser facility in China. These measurements demonstrate and improve the technique proposed by Li et al. [PRL 120, 215703 (2018)] to determine the sound velocity. The results compare favorably to the SESAME EoS table and previous data. The Gruneisen parameter at extreme conditions was also calculated from sound velocity data. The data presented in our experiment also provide new information on sound velocity to support the dissociation and metallization for liquid quartz at extreme conditions.