Direct observation of shock‐induced disordering of enstatite below the melting temperature

We report in situ structural measurements of shock‐compressed single crystal orthoenstatite up to 337 ± 55 GPa on the Hugoniot, obtained by coupling ultrafast X‐ray diffraction to laser‐driven shock compression. Shock compression induces a disordering of the crystalline structure evidenced by the appearance of a diffuse X‐ray diffraction signal at nanosecond timescales at 80 ± 13 GPa on the Hugoniot, well below the equilibrium melting pressure (>170 GPa). The formation of bridgmanite and post‐perovskite have been indirectly reported in microsecond‐scale plate‐impact experiments. Therefore, we interpret the high‐pressure disordered state we observed at nanosecond scale as an intermediate structure from which bridgmanite and post‐perovskite crystallize at longer timescales. This evidence of a disordered structure of MgSiO₃ on the Hugoniot indicates that the degree of polymerization of silicates is a key parameter to constrain the actual thermodynamics of shocks in natural environments.