Examining the alpha-epsilon phase transition in cerium at high pressures

The ability to understand and predict the response of matter at extreme conditions requires knowledge of a materials equation-of-state including the location of~phase boundaries and associated~kinetics.~ For cerium metal, there still remain regions of the phase diagram that are largely unexplored dynamically including the high-pressure region below the melt boundary.~ In this region, diamond anvil cell data show significant disagreement in the existence, location, and slope of the alpha-epsilon phase transition along a high-temperature isotherm.~ In this work, we couple double-shock loading used to generate a secondary Hugoniot below the melt boundary with diamond anvil cell data to study the phase transition directly.~ Shock experiments using pyrometry and X-ray diffraction provide additional insight into the state of the material in this high-pressure region.~ Details of the experimental methods and analysis results will be presented that together provide a more complete picture of this phase transition at high-pressure.~