In-situ manifestation of the anisotropic structural thermodynamic transition of deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate under a strong electromagnetic field

Abstract

The interaction between light and matter is a fundamental issue in nature, accompanied by the transfer of different kinds of energy and phase transitions. The discovery of the thermodynamic transition processes under strong irradiations could trigger novel phenomena and inspire the understanding of the interaction process, but it is still a challenge to observe in-situ. In this work, with the deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate (DKDP) crystal as a representative, the structural thermodynamic transition processes are originally investigated by introducing the in-situ neutron diffraction technique. The chemical bond fracture and breaking are found to be anisotropic, but suppressing, the destruction is not synchronous, which firstly presents the cumulative effect of energy in the structure and clarifies the relationship of the microcosmic chemical bonds and macroscopical destructions. Our results not only have important reference significance for understanding the research and development of materials under strong fields but also play an important role in understanding the physical processes of the interaction between light and matter.