Equation of state measurements by radiography provide evidence for a liquid-liquid phase transition in cerium

A pressure-volume isotherm in cerium metal at 1100 K was measured in a large volume press of the Paris-Edinburgh type up to 6 GPa. The volume was determined by imaging a rectangular shape of the sample via white X-ray radiography. Energy dispersive x-ray diffraction spectra were recorded to ensure that the highly reactive cerium in the cell assembly remained pure at this temperature. Even at 1100 K the p-V equation of state of liquid cerium shows a pronounced decrease of the bulk modulus above the y-phase region similar to the 775 K isotherm in the solid that also shows an inflection point between y- and a-type cerium. The inflection point in the 1100 K isotherm indicating the minimum in the bulk modulus separating the γ- from the α-type liquid is located at approximately 3.5 GPa.