Putting the Squeeze on Nitrogen for High Energy Materials

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Left: Raman- laser heating setup for experiments blue laser was used to interrogate the nitrogen sample at high pressures and temperatures in a diamond anvil cell (photograph is a courtesy of Seth King Carnegie summer student 2007). Right: schematic ...
Left: Raman- laser heating setup for experiments; blue laser was used to interrogate the nitrogen sample at high pressures and temperatures in a diamond anvil cell (photograph is a courtesy of Seth King, Carnegie summer student, 2007). Right: schematic of nitrogen transformations under pressure. Credit: Carnegie Institution for Science.
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Nitrogen atoms like to travel in pairs, hooked together by one of the strongest chemical bonds in nature. By subjecting nitrogen molecules to extreme temperatures and pressures scientists are getting a new understanding of not only nitrogen but other similar molecules, including hydrogen. In the current online edition of Physical Review Letters, researchers from the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory report changes in the melting temperature of solid nitrogen at pressures up to 120 gigapascals (more than a million atmospheres) and temperatures reaching 2,500° Kelvin (more than 4000° Fahrenheit).


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