Structural evolution of Y3Fe5O12 induced by shock compression

Shock-recovery experiments on both powder and single-crystal samples of Y3Fe5O12 (YIG) are performed by flyer impact. The recovered samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. In previous static compression studies, a phase transition from cubic YIG to amorphous YIG has been observed under a pressure of 50GPa at ambient temperature. During the shock compression of the powder sample, the cubic structure of YIG is transformed to yttrium iron perovskite and hematite. The Raman spectra obtained after the shock compression of singlecrystal YIG are not similar to the spectrum for amorphous garnet. The peaks in the Raman spectra can be attributed to yttrium iron perovskite and hematite. The shock-induced heat contributes to the difference in phase transition compared with the results for static compression experiments. (C) 2017 The Japan Society of Applied Physics