Method of Isentropically Compressing Materials to Several Megabars

Abstract

This paper describes a new method of compressing materials up to pressures of several megabars. A high-intensity magnetic field, obtained by magnetic flux compression, is used to compress a sample contained in a metallic tube. The compression of the sample is slow enough to avoid the generation of shock waves which allows the process to be isentropic. This paper describes the apparatus and several experiments with Lucite samples. Evidence that Lucite was isentropically compressed to a specific volume of about 0.25 is included. The pressure reached is estimated to be ∼4 Mbar.