Shock Compression Induced Devitrification of Amorphous Ce3Al Melt-Spun Ribbons

Shock compression experiments were performed on amorphous Ce3Al melt-spun ribbons using the 50 J laser shock loading system at the Omega laser facility. A multi-layered sample of 2mm total thickness with 1 mm x 1.5 mm width and 40 mu m thick ribbons sandwiched with 6 mu m epoxy was used as the target in order to study the effects of varying pressures (due to attenuation) on the transformation behavior. The shock-induced changes were characterized post-mortem via synchrotron XRD analysis. Comparisons of the initial amorphous, thermally devitrified (at 500 degrees C), and shock compressed samples indicate devitrification under high pressure shock compression into the thermodynamically stable hexagonal alpha-Ce3Al intermetallic phase, similar to the thermally devitrified samples.