Application of high-power microsecond REB for inducing solid-state transformations under special pulse-pressure conditions

Summary form only given, as follows. Varying the pulse duration and amplitude of a pressure wave in solids can provide a unique possibility to control solid-state transformations and composition of new products. Realization of such a control by varying temperature pulses is already well known. As to the influence of the pressure variation, the importance of the duration of pressure pulses was claimed in a number of publications in the field of mechanochemistry, but real experiments are hard to come by. The aim of our work is to find a way for the control of the time profile of the pressure wave in solids by using a high-power microsecond REB for surface irradiation of a solid target. Generally speaking, high-power particle beams with short pulse duration are widely used as one of methods to generate high pressure pulses in solids, for example, for nuclear fusion application. Our presentation deals with the results of experimental and theoretical studies of application of microsecond REB to induce solid-state transformations under special conditions. Several typical examples belonging to different classes of pressure-induced solid-state transformations are considered, including structural transformations with and without significant contribution of an electronic component, with model systems ranging from simple inorganic salts and oxides to complex oxides and organic molecular solids. The evolution of pressure inside a solid target induced by the irradiation of its surface by microsecond REB with variable current density (equal to the one generated by U-2 accelerator) is simulated. The results of the simulations are used to optimize the geometry and the material of the target comprising the sample, in which a solid-state transformation is to be induced. The experimental diagnostics is discussed, which can be used to measure the conditions of the experiment (in particular, pressure dynamics), to follow the transformation and to characterize its product.