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

Experimental results on Z-pinch acceleration of massive cylindrical copper liners for generation of pressure pulses in the range of 20-40 GPa for investigation of the graphite-to-diamond phase transition are reported. Pulse pressure was created when the liner struck a steel tube filled with graphite or graphite-containing composite. The crystal structure of the substance after pulse compression was cleaned by chemical methods and investigated using electron microscopy analysis. As a result of the investigation, it was found that about 3% of the substance initially present in the sample was transformed to a diamond phase with an average crystallite size of 1-2 /spl mu/m.