Time Resolved Diffraction Measurements with an Imaging Plate at High Pressure and Temperature

New developments of the imaging plate diffraction system at beamline X17B1 of the NSLS at Brookhaven National Laboratory for high pressure studies are reported here. Time resolved diffraction patterns can be recorded on an imaging plate by translating the plate in this system. This system was used to observe the olivine-spinel phase transformation in fayalite. The result demonstrates that the phase transformation relaxes stress stored in the sample. Some diffraction peaks of spinel phase, e.g. (400) and (440), were observed to appear prior to the others.