Superheating gold beyond the predicted entropy catastrophe threshold

Thomas G. White (), Travis D. Griffin, Daniel Haden, Hae Ja Lee, Eric Galtier, Eric Cunningham, Dimitri Khaghani, Adrien Descamps, Lennart Wollenweber, Ben Armentrout, Carson Convery, Karen Appel, Luke B. Fletcher, Sebastian Goede, J. B. Hastings, Jeremy Iratcabal, Emma E. McBride, Jacob Molina, Giulio Monaco, Landon Morrison, Hunter Stramel, Sameen Yunus, Ulf Zastrau, Siegfried H. Glenzer, Gianluca Gregori, Dirk O. Gericke and Bob Nagler
Additional contact information
Thomas G. White: University of Nevada
Travis D. Griffin: University of Nevada
Daniel Haden: University of Nevada
Hae Ja Lee: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Eric Galtier: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Eric Cunningham: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Dimitri Khaghani: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Adrien Descamps: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Lennart Wollenweber: European XFEL GmbH
Ben Armentrout: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Carson Convery: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Karen Appel: European XFEL GmbH
Luke B. Fletcher: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Sebastian Goede: European XFEL GmbH
J. B. Hastings: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Jeremy Iratcabal: University of Nevada
Emma E. McBride: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Jacob Molina: University of Nevada
Giulio Monaco: University of Padova
Landon Morrison: University of Nevada
Hunter Stramel: University of Nevada
Sameen Yunus: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Ulf Zastrau: European XFEL GmbH
Siegfried H. Glenzer: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Gianluca Gregori: University of Oxford
Dirk O. Gericke: University of Warwick
Bob Nagler: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Nature, 2025, vol. 643, issue 8073, 950-954

Abstract: Abstract In their landmark study1, Fecht and Johnson unveiled a phenomenon that they termed the ‘entropy catastrophe’, a critical point where the entropy of superheated crystals equates to that of their liquid counterparts. This point marks the uppermost stability boundary for solids at temperatures typically around three times their melting point. Despite the theoretical prediction of this ultimate stability threshold, its practical exploration has been prevented by numerous intermediate destabilizing events, colloquially known as a hierarchy of catastrophes2–5, which occur at far lower temperatures. Here we experimentally test this limit under ultrafast heating conditions, directly tracking the lattice temperature by using high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering. Our gold samples are heated to temperatures over 14 times their melting point while retaining their crystalline structure, far surpassing the predicted threshold and suggesting a substantially higher or potentially no limit for superheating. We point to the inability of our samples to expand on these very short timescales as an important difference from previous estimates. These observations provide insights into the dynamics of melting under extreme conditions.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09253-y

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