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Melting Temperature of Bismuth to 55 GPa Using Synchrotron X-Ray Phase Contrast Imaging

Bernhard Massani1, Emma Ehrenreich-Petersen2, Rachel Husband2, Daniel Campbell3, Thea Engler4, Timofey Fedotenko2, Nico Giordano2, Konstantin Glazyrin2, Johannes Hagemann4 et al.

Daniel Sneed3, Zena Younes1, Zsolt Jenei3, Hanns-Peter Liermann2, R. Stewart McWilliams1,*, and Earl F. O’Bannon3,†

  • *Contact author: rs.mcwilliams@ed.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: obannon2@llnl.gov
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 156101 – Published 8 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ldw3-5x6p

Abstract

The melting temperature of elemental bismuth under high pressure has been measured to 55 GPa using synchrotron x-ray phase-contrast imaging in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell. Imaging of solid-liquid interface formation, combined with radiometric temperature and x-ray diffraction measurements, reveals a pronounced reduction in melting boundary slope in Bi-V with pressure. The unusually steep initial slope is attributed to low configurational entropy of melting, arising from structural ordering and coordination matching in the cool liquid, while slope reduction is driven by entropy increase correlated with significant liquid structure changes with rising pressure and temperature. The data rule out kinetic effects on melting in shock compression experiments and demonstrate the need for improved theoretical phase diagrams.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 156101– Published 8 October, 2026
  • Received 27 February 2025
  • Revised 14 April 2026
  • Accepted 7 July 2026
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