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Understanding the how silicon deforms under pressure is important for several fields, including planetary science and materials design. Laser-driven shock compression experiments now confirm that shear stress generated during compression is released via a high-pressure phase transition.

The effect of dense plasma environment on the energy levels of an ion is usually described in terms of a lowering of its continuum level. Here the authors present an isochoric-heating experiment to measure and compare continuum lowering in single-species and mixture plasmas to provide insights for models.