In this thesis, Molecular Dynamics simulations of shocked single crystals of Copper and Iron are studied using simulated X-ray diffraction. Strains and volumetric compression in modeled Copper crystals shock-compressed on picosecond time-scales are found. By comparing the shifts in the second and fourth diffraction orders, the density of dislocations is calculated. In Iron, simulated X-ray diffraction is used to verify the modelling of the α-ε phase transition induced by shock-compression on picosecond time-scales. No plastic deformation of Iron is found in the studied pressure range of ~ 15-53 GPa. The results are then compared with data from in situ X-ray diffraction experiments of laser-shocked single crystals. Near-hydrostatic compression of shock-compressed Copper on nanosecond time-scales is confirmed using a new wide-angle film diagnostic capturing diffraction from multiple crystal planes. Also, the first in situ X-ray diffraction evidence of the onset of the α-ε phase transition in laser-shocked single crystal Iron is shown. No plastic yield of the crystal lattice is found, which is in agreement with the simulation results. Results from both the Molecular Dynamics simulations and experiments are used to suggest enhancements in computer modelling of shocked crystals, as well as future experimental studies. In particular, the need for a measurement of dislocation densities during the shock wave passage through a crystal is highlighted, and a method enabling such a measurement is proposed.

Developing a greater understanding of multiferroic materials, particularly those in which a strong coupling is exhibited between magnetic and electrical orderings, is of great importance if potential applications are to be realised. This thesis reports new experimental findings on several multiferroics using the techniques of X-ray and neutron diffraction together with nonlinear optical experiments. Spherical neutron polarimetry measurements on RbFe(MoO<sub<4</sub>)₂ show how this system's chiral magnetic structure can be controlled by an external electric field. Consideration is given to the axial distortion that the crystal structure makes, and the effect that this has on the stabilised magnetic structures. A ferroaxial coupling is invoked to explain, from a symmetry point of view, the spin driven multiferroicity in this proper screw system. The charge ordering in YbFe₂O₄ is examined by a detailed imaging of reciprocal space measured by elastic X-ray diffraction. Continuous helices of scattering are observed above the three-dimensional ordering transition temperature, whereas the intensity is concentrated onto separated maxima below this. The low temperature data are modelled using a simple oxygen displacement pattern, generalised to an incommensurate structure. The observed incommensurability implies that YbFe₂O₄ cannot be truly ferroelectric. The low field magnetic structures of a Y-type hexaferrite Ba_0.5Sr_1.5Zn₂Fe₁₂O₂₂ are observed in a resonant soft X-ray diffraction study. In zero field the system is helimagnetic, and with small applied fields peaks corresponding to a new phase appear. Energy calculations are used to suggest a suitable magnetic structure for the new phase and to show how this relates to the known commensurate phases that are present in low fields. Finally, an experimental setup designed to measure second harmonic generation from non-centrosymmetric crystals is presented, along with static measurements on the multiferroic system MnWO₄. An optical pump / second harmonic probe study is then undertaken, with the result that a pump induced enhancement in the efficiency of the second harmonic generation is observed.

Les aciers Dual Phase (DP) ferrito-martensitiques sont largement utilisés sous la forme de tôles minces dans la construction automobile en raison de leur excellent compromis résistance/ductilité et donc pour leur potentiel d’allègement. Ils sont élaborés par coulée continue, laminage à chaud et à froid suivis d’un recuit continu. Durant l’étape de chauffage et de maintien de ce recuit, la microstructure ferrito-perlitique déformée issue des étapes de laminage se transforme en microstructure ferrito-austénitique recristallisée. L’expérience montre que les cinétiques de recristallisation et de transformation ainsi que la distribution spatiale et morphologique des microstructures résultantes sont très sensibles aux vitesses de chauffage. Ce travail de thèse s’intéresse aux différents mécanismes expliquant cette sensibilité comme la maturation des carbures, la restauration, la recristallisation de la ferrite et la transformation austénitique et toutes leurs interactions. Ces mécanismes métallurgiques ont été caractérisés à différentes échelles et par des approches in situ sur un acier industriel puis modéliser par des approches à base physique pour guider une possible production. Après un premier chapitre dédié aux techniques expérimentales et de modélisations utilisées, le second chapitre de ce travail s’intéresse principalement à la caractérisation de la morphogénèse des microstructures ferrito-austénitique en microscopie électronique à balayage (MEB). Le troisième chapitre est une étude détaillée en Microscopie Electronique à Transmission (MET) et par modélisation thermocinétique (ThermoCalc, DICTRA) de la composition des carbures tout au long du processus, du laminage à chaud au recuit. Restauration et recristallisation sont étudiées au chapitre 4 principalement par des expériences in situ en Diffraction des Rayons X à Haute Energie (DRXHE) sur ligne de lumière synchrotron et modélisées par une approche originale à champs moyen. Enfin, le chapitre 5 propose une étude sous DICTRA pour comprendre les cinétiques de transformation austénitique en fonction des vitesses de chauffe. Cette approche est novatrice car elle prend en compte les carbures intergranulaires de la ferrite, a été conduite en conditions anisothermes et propose une analyse fine des modes de croissance de l’austénite associées au manganèse, élément clef de la composition de ces alliages. / Ferrite/Martensite Dual-Phase steels are largely used in the form of thin sheets in the automotive industry for their excellent balance between resistance and strength and thus for their lightening potential. They are elaborated by continuous casting, hot- and cold- rolling, followed by a continuous annealing. During the heating and the soaking stages of this latter process, the deformed ferrite/pearlite microstructure obtained after rolling evolves is transformed into a recrystallized ferrite-austenite microstructure. The experiments show that recrystallization and austenite transformation kinetics as well as the resulting spatial and morphological distribution of the phases are highly sensitive to the heating rate. This PhD thesis aims at understanding the different metallurgical mechanisms explaining this particular sensitivity as carbides ripening, recovery, recrystallization and austenite transformation and all their possible interactions. The mechanisms were characterized at different scales and by in situ technics on an industrial steel and model by physical based approaches in order to drive future production lines. After a first chapter dedicated to the experimental and modeling methods, the second chapter deals with the characterization of the morphogenesis of ferrite-austenite microstructures by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Chapter 3 is a study by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and by thermokinetic modeling (ThermoCalc, DICTRA) of the chemical composition of carbides along with manufacturing, from hot-rolling to annealing. Recovery and recrystallization are studied in chapter 4 by the means of in situ High Energy X-Ray Diffraction (HEXRD) experiments conducted on a synchrotron beamline and modeled by an original mean-field approach. Finally, chapter 5 proposes an analysis with DICTRA to understand austenite transformation kinetics as function of heating rates. The proposed approach is innovative as it accounts for intergranular carbides in the ferrite matrix, is conducted in non-isothermal conditions and propose a fine analysis of growth modes of austenite associated to manganese, a key alloying element of the studied steels.