Despite the long and extensive history of melting studies, experiments to determine the dependence of melting on crystal orientation are lacking. Using longitudinal sound speed measurements in aluminum single crystals shock compressed along $\langle 100\rangle$ and $\langle 110\rangle$ to 168 GPa, we address this need and show that the melting transition (both onset and completion) is strongly anisotropic. The present findings demonstrate the need to consider the role of deformation induced lattice defects on the melting transition and provide a general approach to examine melting anisotropy in crystalline solids.

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• Crystal melting
• Liquid-solid phase transition
• Phase diagrams
• Shock waves
• Single crystal materials
• Hugoniot measurements
• Interferometry