Study of liquid gallium as a function of pressure and temperature using synchrotron x-ray microtomography and x-ray diffraction

Abstract

The volume change of liquid and solid gallium has been studied as a function of pressure and temperature up to 3.02 GPa at 300 K and up to 3.63 GPa at 330 K using synchrotron x-ray microtomography combined with energy dispersive x-ray diffraction techniques. Two sets of directly measured P-V data at 300 K and 330 K were obtained from 3D tomography reconstruction data, and the corresponding isothermal bulk moduli were determined as 23.6 (0.5) GPa and 24.6 (0.4) GPa, respectively. The existence of a liquid-liquid phase transition region is proposed based on the abnormal compressibility of Ga melt at about 2.44 GPa and 330 K conditions. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.