Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have resolved a 20-year discrepancy in understanding how diamond behaves under extreme pressure, with findings that could triple energy gain in fusion experiments and reshape models of ice giant planet interiors.
LLNL scientists found diamond melts at about 7,300 Kelvin under one-terapascal pressure, matching quantum simulations and closing a longstanding discrepancy, according to a study published Thursday in Nature Physics.nature+1
Applying the findings at the National Ignition Facility could triple fusion energy gain by using slower initial shocks that keep fuel more compressible, the researchers said.llnl+1
The results also refine models of "diamond rain" inside Neptune and Uranus, where carbon is believed to crystallize deep within the planets' interiors.phys+1