Shock compression of quartz in the high-pressure fluid regime.

The Hugoniot of quartz has been measured using laser-driven shock waves with pressures from 2 to 15 Mbars. Within this pressure range silica transforms from a liquid near melt into a dense plasma. Results are in good agreement with previous studies in part of this range performed using explosive- and nuclear-driven shocks indicating the absence of time-dependent effects for time scales between several hundred picoseconds and several hundred microseconds. These data combined with earlier data at lower pressures clearly show the increasing compressibility of silica as it transitions from solid to liquid to dense plasma regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]