Z-pinch acceleration of massive cylindrical liners for realization of graphite-to-diamond phase transition

Experimental results on Z-pinch acceleration of massive copper liners for generation of pressure pulses having a magnitude of 20-40 Gpa to investigate the graphite-to diamond phase transition are presented. The phase transition was induced by the cylindrical shock wave generated when the liner struck the steel ampoule filled with graphite or graphite containing composite. The crystal structure of carbon after shock compression was cleaned by the chemical methods and investigated using the electron microscopy analysis. As a result of the investigation it was found out that about 3% of the substance initially presented in the sample was transformed into a diamond phase having an average crystallite size of 1-2 /spl mu/m.