ABSTRACT
Materials in extreme environments such as high pressure or high temperature can show very interesting and exotic behavior, which may be absent in normal conditions. For example, under high pressure, a material may exhibit insulator to metal transition, metal to superconducting transition, phase transformations, and so on. Materials at high pressures and temperatures are of great interest to understand the earth’s core, which presumably has high pressure (~350 GPa) and high temperature (~5700 K). Also, such studies may be of interest to understand various phenomena occurring in planets and stars. There is a great interest in these studies because of their potential applications in various industries related to energy production and space. For example, for fission and future fusion reactors, one needs materials that can operate at very high pressures and temperatures and can withstand a high radiation flux. For spaceships, one needs a material that is light, strong, and can withstand very high temperatures and stress.
