In situ x-ray diffraction at both the National Ignition Facility and Omega-EP Laser Facility has been utilized to determine the crystallographic state of ramp and shock-ramp compressed gold up to 1.2 TPa ($1\mathrm{T}\mathrm{Pa}=10\mathrm{Mbar}=10\times {10}^6$ atmospheres). In this Letter, we describe a series of experiments that explore a variety of pressure-temperature states in Au, accessed using tailored laser pulses. We find that the ambient pressure face-centered-cubic phase is stable under ramp compression to pressures of at least 1 TPa where the body-centered-cubic phase is observed simultaneously.

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• High-pressure studies
• X-ray diffraction