Scientists from the US managed to squeeze the diamond under pressure more than three times, reports Lenta.ru. The authors published the results of their research in an article in the journal Nature, which reports that the maximum compression ratio that scientists were able to achieve was 3.7 times.
The pressure required for this was equal to five terapascals (which is approximately 50 million terrestrial atmospheres). The diamond was squeezed by radiation from 176 laser beams, which created pressure on the substance, causing the distance between the carbon atoms in the crystal lattice sites to decrease. According to the researchers, this led to the formation of a special degenerate state of the electron substance in the crystal, which is described by the methods of quantum statistics only in certain approximations.
Diamond is one of the modifications of carbon compounds. It is believed that the mineral can exist in a stable state for quite a long time. It is also characterized by high hardness and ordering of the crystal lattice.
Physicists believe that the reproduction in the laboratory of extreme conditions of ultrahigh pressures and densities characteristic of the cores of giant planets will help significantly to understand the internal mechanisms and structure, as well as the evolution processes of such celestial bodies. The study of carbon in extreme states can also be useful for progress in the field of thermonuclear fusion.