The 4th International Conference on Matter and Radiation at Extremes (ICMRE 2019)

561 / 2019-03-20 17:19:38

Supercompressing glassy sulfur

sulfur

Plenary track > High Pressure Physics and Materials Science

A new kind of glassy sulfur, supercompressing glassy sulfur, was discovered by rapid compression melt sulfur using dynamic-diamond anvil cell (dDAC). The structure of supercompressing sulfur was completely different from so-called supercooling sulfur from Raman spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements. It was yellow and transparent, which was proved to be a kind of metastable sulfur at atmospheric pressure, while it was alive under high pressure. Absorption spectroscopy measurement indicated that a remarkable and continuous large-scale absorption modulation that covered nearly the entire visible light range could be realized and the reversible pressure-dependent color shift showed the application potential in pressure sensors. The results strongly suggest that the S8 molecular rings break under dynamic compression during the solidification process of “surcompressing” glassy sulfur from its melt, and dynamic compression is an effective method exploring “supercompressing” physics and chemistry.