Temperature, enthalpy, and kinetics of cerium resolidification under dynamic compression

We report a method to measure the temperature and transition time of cerium resolidification after shock to the liquid phase. Coating the highly reactive metal onto an inert optical window allows a supported shock to take a pure sample through an isobaric thermodynamic trajectory as diffusion cools the sample under steady stress. We measure the temperature of the liquid-to-epsilon transformation at a range of pressures to map the melt boundary under dynamic compression. We use the transformation duration to bound transformation kinetics, constrain transformation enthalpy and entropy, and explain discrepancies in predicted Hugoniot and melt coexistence in published equation-of-state models. This technique enables exploration of dynamic phase transformation in a variety of shocked materials.