Electronic states in solid and liquid laser shock compressed (Mg,Fe)O

Ferropericlase ((MgxFe1-x)O, x > 0.5) is the second most abundant mineral of the Earth’s lower mantle with a proportion around 16-20% and the solid solution between FeO and MgO (MgFe)O is considered to be one of the major components of rocky planets, too. Fe, one of the three elements in the solid solution, is of particular interest as it is one of the abundant major elements in the mantle that may vary in oxidation and spin state with P and T. The high-pressure electronic properties, spin state, and phase stability of ferropericlase are critical to understanding the properties of and processes taking place in the mantle and have been subject of numerous theoretical and experimental studies. We propose to dynamically compress (MgxFe1-x)O of four different compositions along the solid solution line to extreme pressures and to study snapshots of the electronic states via single shot XANES exploiting the capabilities of ID24 HPLF to study the properties of (MgFe)O in planetary interiors.