Shocking a transparent semiconducting oxide to 15 Mbar: Z machine experiments and EOS modeling.

Ga₂O₃ is a transparent semiconducting oxide with an ultra-large band gap. Its multiple low-symmetry crystal structures and thermal anisotropy make experiments, density functional theory (DFT) simulations, and equation of state (EOS) design much more challenging, which motivates us to push boundaries of both experimental and modelling methods. We present recent SNL Z machine Hugoniot data up to 15 Mbar with corresponding shock temperatures, new DFT calculations, a multiphase, broad range EOS and the first phase diagram for Ga₂O₃, covering four solid phases and the liquid.