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Structure of niobium to 365 GPa using ultrafast x-ray diffraction and shock compression

C. M. Lonsdale1,*, J. D. McHardy1, C. V. Storm1, M. I. McMahon1,†, R. S. McWilliams1, N. Jaisle1, M. Jones1, C. R. Roy1, R. F. Smith2 et al.

A. Descamps3, A. Higginbotham4, T. M. Hutchinson2, S. Pandolfi5, A. Sollier6,7, A. Amouretti8, M. Andrzejewski9, K. Appel9, T. Aughey3, P. Avery10, E. Barraud6, A. B. Belonoshko11,12, E. Brambrink9, N. Bruzy6,7, K. Buakor9, S. D. Di Dio Cafiso13, C. Camarda9, O. Castelnau14, A. Chakraborti15, J. Chantel15, D. M. Cheshire4, G. W. Collins16, A. J. Comley17, T. E. Cowan13, C. Crépisson18, Y. Deng19, L. Dresselhaus-Marais20,21, X. Fang19, M. D. Fitzgerald18, S. Galitskiy22, E. Galtier21, H. Ginestet15, J. M. Gonzalez22, F. Hanby22, A. Hari20,21, M. Harmand23, N. J. Hartley21, P. G. Heighway18, J-A. Hernandez24, H. Höppner13, D. Khaghani21, J. Kim25, T. Kim26, Z. Konôpková9, D. Kraus13,27, A. Krygier2, H. J. Lee21, S-N. Luo19, M. Masruri13, E. E. McBride3, D. McGonegle17, S. Merkel15, T. Michelat9, E. Mijit24, M. Nakatsutsumi9, A-M. Norton4, I. K. Ocampo2, I. I. Oleynik22, C. Otzen28, N. Ozaki8, S. E. Parsons20,21, D. J. Peake18, A. Pelka13, K. A. Pereira29, A. Phelipeau28,30, C. Prescher28, T. R. Preston9, N. Pulver2, D. Riley3, L. Rogal31, J-P. Schwinkendorf13, G. Shoulga13, S. Singh2, C. N. Somarathna22, T. Stevens18, C. Strohm30, T-A. Suer16, M. X. Tang9, A. Tipeev22, M. Toncian13, T. Toncian13, S. J. Tracy32, U. Trdan33, J. D. Tunacao22, J. D. Umpleby-Thorp4, C. E. Vennari2, L. Wang19, J. S. Wark18, C. McGuire2, G. Morard5, and J. H. Eggert2

  • 1SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, and Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions, The University of Edinburgh, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom
  • 2Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA
  • 3School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
  • 4York Plasma Institute, School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
  • 5Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, UMR CNRS 7590, Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique, des Matériaux, et de Cosmochimie, IMPMC, 75005 Paris, France
  • 6CEA, DAM, DIF 91297 Arpajon Cedex, France
  • 7Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, LMCE, 91680 Bruyères-le-Châtel, France
  • 8Graduate School of Engineering, University of Osaka, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
  • 9European XFEL, Holzkoppel 4, 22869 Schenefeld, Germany
  • 10Kitware, Inc., Clifton Park, New York 12065, USA
  • 11Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
  • 12Condensed Matter Theory, Department of Physics, AlbaNova University Center, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
  • 13Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Bautzner Landstraße 400, 01328 Dresden, Germany
  • 14CNRS-DSI Meudon, Laboratoire PIMM (UMR 8006), ENSAM/CNAM, 155 Bd de l'hopital, 75013 Paris, France
  • 15Univ. Lille, CNRS, INRAE, Centrale Lille, UMR 8207-UMET-Unité Matériaux et Transformations, F-59000 Lille, France
  • 16Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623-1299, USA
  • 17AWE, Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4PR, United Kingdom
  • 18Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
  • 19School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, No. 111, North 1st Section of Second Ring Road, Jinniu District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China
  • 20Stanford Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 476 Lomita Mall, Stanford, California 94025, USA
  • 21SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
  • 22Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA
  • 23PIMM, CNRS, Arts et Metiers Institute of Technology, CNAM, Paris, France
  • 24European Synchrotron Radiation Facility-ESRF, 71, avenue des Martyrs CS 40220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
  • 25Hanyang University, Department of Physics, 17 Haengdang dong, Seongdong gu Seoul, Korea 133-791, South Korea
  • 26School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
  • 27Universität Rostock, Institut für Physik, 18051 Rostock, Germany
  • 28Institut für Geo- und Umweltnaturwissenschaften, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Straße 5, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
  • 29Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 690 N Pleasant Street Physical Sciences Building, Rm 173 Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-9303, USA
  • 30Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
  • 31Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Reymonta 25, 30-059 Krakow, Poland
  • 32Carnegie Science, Earth and Planets Laboratory, 5241 Broad Branch Road, NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA
  • 33Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Askerceva 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

  • *Contact author: c.m.lonsdale@sms.ed.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: m.i.mcmahon@ed.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. B 114, 154101 – Published 1 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/tlxw-bfx4

Abstract

The phase stability, crystal structure, and melting of Nb have been examined under high pressure shock compression to 365 GPa using ultrafast in situ x-ray diffraction measurements on two x-ray free electron laser facilities. On compression, Nb remains stable in the bcc phase up to 220 GPa, with coexistence of bcc-Nb and liquid from 249 to 298 GPa, and complete melting at 301 GPa, with melt identified by diffuse liquid diffraction. Melting initiates at higher pressure than expected based on theoretical predictions, and the data consistently excludes the presence of other suggested phases of Nb at these pressures, including Pnma and hcp, thereby resolving the long-standing structural discrepancy. Singh-type strength analysis provides experimental evidence for a change in sign of the elastic anisotropy parameter at 121 GPa, consistent with the previously reported heat-induced hardening to heat-induced softening transition in Nb.

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Phys. Rev. B 114, 154101– Published 1 September, 2026
  • Received 30 December 2025
  • Revised 3 July 2026
  • Accepted 14 July 2026
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