In this work, we report postmortem studies in shock compressed direct band-gap semiconductor crystals. Commercial III-V wafers were characterized before and after dynamically compressing them using a laser driven flyer plate system (LDFPS), developed and characterized in the recent years by the Dlott research group. LDFPS is an inverted shock microscope with high time and space resolutions, and is suitable for high-throughput shock compression experiments. The postmortem characterization in recovered samples via x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and Raman measurements showed evidence of permanent alterations in the crystal structures of the compressed materials. Considering the wide usage of semiconductor bulk substrates in the hi-tech industry, we note the significance of practical, pressure-induced band structure engineering pathways.
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