Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 9, 2026
06:26
Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
7.5K
Optically-controlled phonon-specific phase transitions from graphite to diamond.
Yunzhe Jia1,2, Chenchen Song1,2, Daqiang Chen1,2
1Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Nature Communications
|December 9, 2025
Summary
Scientists used ultrafast lasers to control the graphite-to-diamond phase transition, revealing pathways for selective cubic or hexagonal diamond formation. This optically controlled method offers efficient and eco-friendly material synthesis.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- Materials science
Background:
- Controlling phase transitions and atomic structures with light is a significant challenge.
- Traditional graphite-to-diamond conversion requires high pressure and temperature.
- Ultrafast lasers enable dynamic structural control under non-thermodynamic conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate ultrafast pathways of light-induced graphite-to-diamond phase transition.
- To reveal mechanisms for selective formation of cubic or hexagonal diamond.
- To understand structural evolution by regulating laser parameters.
Main Methods:
- First-principles non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations.
- Analysis of electron-phonon and phonon-phonon couplings.
- Investigation of laser parameter influence on phase transition.
Main Results:
- Optically controlled diamond formation via photoinduced non-thermal pathways.
- Identification of specific phonon modes (e.g., ) driving structural reconstruction.
- Competition between generated phonons determines the final diamond structure.
Conclusions:
- Demonstrated effective modulation of structural phase transition using light.
- Provided a strategy for efficient and eco-friendly material synthesis via optical control.
- Highlighted the role of electron-phonon and phonon-phonon couplings in controlling phase transitions.
Related Concept Videos
02:31Phase Transitions
22.3K
Whether solid, liquid, or gas, a substance's state depends on the order and arrangement of its particles (atoms, molecules, or ions). Particles in the solid pack closely together, generally in a pattern. The particles vibrate about their fixed positions but do not move or squeeze past their neighbors. In liquids, although the particles are closely spaced, they are randomly arranged. The position of the particles are not fixed—that is, they are free to move past their neighbors to...
22.3K
02:33Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
19.6K
Some solids can transition directly into the gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state, via a process known as sublimation. At room temperature and standard pressure, a piece of dry ice (solid CO2) sublimes, appearing to gradually disappear without ever forming any liquid. Snow and ice sublimate at temperatures below the melting point of water, a slow process that may be accelerated by winds and the reduced atmospheric pressures at high altitudes. When solid iodine is warmed, the solid sublimes...
19.6K
02:18Network Covalent Solids
16.0K
Network covalent solids contain a three-dimensional network of covalently bonded atoms as found in the crystal structures of nonmetals like diamond, graphite, silicon, and some covalent compounds, such as silicon dioxide (sand) and silicon carbide (carborundum, the abrasive on sandpaper). Many minerals have networks of covalent bonds.
To break or to melt a covalent network solid, covalent bonds must be broken. Because covalent bonds are relatively strong, covalent network solids are typically...
To break or to melt a covalent network solid, covalent bonds must be broken. Because covalent bonds are relatively strong, covalent network solids are typically...
16.0K
01:19Phase Diagram
6.9K
The phase of a given substance depends on the pressure and temperature. Thus, plots of pressure versus temperature showing the phase in each region provide considerable insights into the thermal properties of substances. Such plots are known as phase diagrams. For instance, in the phase diagram for water (Figure 1), the solid curve boundaries between the phases indicate phase transitions (i.e., temperatures and pressures at which the phases coexist).
6.9K
02:39Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
20.5K
The physical form of a substance changes on changing its temperature. For example, raising the temperature of a liquid causes the liquid to vaporize (convert into vapor). The process is called vaporization—a surface phenomenon. Vaporization occurs when the thermal motion of the molecules overcome the intermolecular forces, and the molecules (at the surface) escape into the gaseous state. When a liquid vaporizes in a closed container, gas molecules cannot escape. As these gas phase molecules...
20.5K
02:39Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
14.5K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
14.5K