Direct observation of shock-induced formation of davemaoite, Ca-perovskite

Perovskite-structured silicates are key minerals of Earth’s lower mantle and have also been identified in shocked meteorites as the (Mg,Fe)SiO3-perovskite phase, bridgmanite. In contrast, CaSiO3-perovskite (davemaoite) has never been found in meteorites and is known only from rare inclusions in deep-mantle diamonds. This contrast highlights a fundamental gap: while natural samples provide indirect evidence for silicate perovskites under shock conditions, laboratory dynamic compression experiments have yet to directly capture perovskite transitions in either MgSiO3 or CaSiO3, likely due to kinetic limitations imposed by nanosecond timescales. Here we present the in situ, atomic-scale observations of CaSiO3-perovskite formation under dynamic compression. Using nanosecond laser-driven shocks and ultrafast X-ray diffraction (XRD) at SACLA, we tracked the transformation of CaSiO3 from low-pressure phases to an amorphous state, and ultimately to davemaoite above ~91(10) GPa, suggesting a disorder–order transformation pathway toward reconstructive crystallization on nanosecond timescales. Upon release, davemaoite undergoes amorphization via a transient low-symmetry phase. These observations provide direct structural evidence for silicate perovskite formation under dynamic loading, resolving a long-standing experimental problem and establishing dynamic compression as an effective route to probe deep-mantle minerals relevant to Earth and Ca-rich exoplanet interiors. Shock compression is an effective approach for studying materials under extreme conditions. Using X-ray diffraction, Lee et al. observe shock-induced davemaoite formation, demonstrating that silicate perovskite can crystallize on nanosecond timescales.

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Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-08-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-76624-y
Primary Topic
High-pressure geophysics and materials
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article
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article

Direct observation of shock-induced formation of davemaoite, Ca-perovskite

Donghoon Seoung, Yingwei Fei, T. Yabuuchi, Norimasa Ozaki et al.
Nature Communications
High-pressure geophysics and materials
article

Direct observation of shock-induced formation of davemaoite, Ca-perovskite

Donghoon Seoung, Yingwei Fei, T. Yabuuchi, Norimasa Ozaki, Jinhyuk Choi, T. A. Pikuz, Sota Takagi, Alexis Amouretti, Kohei Miyanishi, Yongmoon Lee, Donghoon Kim, Huijeong Hwang, Hyunseung Lee, Chaewon Park, Mujin Lee, Gunhee Lee, Hirotaka Nakamura, Naoko Takahashi, Minsu Jang, Sally J. Tracy
article en

Abstract

Perovskite-structured silicates are key minerals of Earth’s lower mantle and have also been identified in shocked meteorites as the (Mg,Fe)SiO3-perovskite phase, bridgmanite. In contrast, CaSiO3-perovskite (davemaoite) has never been found in meteorites and is known only from rare inclusions in deep-mantle diamonds. This contrast highlights a fundamental gap: while natural samples provide indirect evidence for silicate perovskites under shock conditions, laboratory dynamic compression experiments have yet to directly capture perovskite transitions in either MgSiO3 or CaSiO3, likely due to kinetic limitations imposed by nanosecond timescales. Here we present the in situ, atomic-scale observations of CaSiO3-perovskite formation under dynamic compression. Using nanosecond laser-driven shocks and ultrafast X-ray diffraction (XRD) at SACLA, we tracked the transformation of CaSiO3 from low-pressure phases to an amorphous state, and ultimately to davemaoite above ~91(10) GPa, suggesting a disorder–order transformation pathway toward reconstructive crystallization on nanosecond timescales. Upon release, davemaoite undergoes amorphization via a transient low-symmetry phase. These observations provide direct structural evidence for silicate perovskite formation under dynamic loading, resolving a long-standing experimental problem and establishing dynamic compression as an effective route to probe deep-mantle minerals relevant to Earth and Ca-rich exoplanet interiors. Shock compression is an effective approach for studying materials under extreme conditions. Using X-ray diffraction, Lee et al. observe shock-induced davemaoite formation, demonstrating that silicate perovskite can crystallize on nanosecond timescales.

Nature Communications
Chonnam National University (KR), Pohang University of Science and Technology (KR), Carnegie Institution for Science (US), Korea University (KR), Tohoku University (JP), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (KR), SPring-8 (JP), Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JP), Pohang Accelerator Laboratory, Pusan National University (KR), Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KR), The University of Osaka (JP)
National Research Foundation, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Korea University, National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Openalex Percentile: Top 13%
High-pressure geophysics and materials
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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