Squeezing Information from Materials under Extreme Pressure
Monday, May 31, 2010 - 16:50
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- By compressing tiny amounts of material between two diamond anvils, scientists have for more than three decades been able to achieve pressures of over 1 million atmospheres. The physical changes and phase transitions that occur under such pressures test theories of solid-state physics and shed light on conditions in planetary interiors. But to gain useful information from highly compressed samples, researchers need probes that resolve fine details of the materials' structure.