How Do We Make New States of Matter in the Lab? | Superionic Ice

Scientific concepts, discoveries, and nature phenomena

• Water has more than the familiar 3 phases (beyond typical ice / liquid / steam behavior).
• Superionic ice:
  • An “exotic” state of water not found under normal Earth conditions.
  • Forms when water is compressed and heated to very high pressures and temperatures.
  • Behaves simultaneously like a solid and a liquid:
    • Oxygen atoms remain solid-like by forming a crystalline lattice.
    • Hydrogen atoms become mobile, “jumping” between oxygen sites, producing liquid-like transport within a crystalline oxygen framework.

Why it matters

• Icy giant planets (e.g., Neptune / Uranus) are believed to contain water/ice mixtures under high-pressure, high-temperature interior conditions.
• Understanding exotic water phases helps interpret planetary interiors and their properties, including magnetic fields.

Experimental method (as described)

• High-pressure/high-temperature generation using giant lasers:

  • Start with a liquid water layer.
  • Place it between two diamonds.
  • Use focused giant laser energy onto a small (≈1 mm) spot.
  • Deliver energy in very short timescales (on the order of nanoseconds).
  • Laser energy creates shock/compression waves by rapidly heating/blowing off some material, thereby compressing and heating the remaining water.
  • Under the right pressure + temperature conditions, the water undergoes structural changes and freezes into superionic ice.

• Detection and structural verification using x-ray diffraction:

  • After a few billionths of a second, additional lasers generate x-rays.
  • Researchers measure x-ray diffraction patterns to confirm crystal formation and determine how atoms are arranged.
  • Emphasized distinction: diffraction patterns show whether the sample is crystalline vs. liquid, rather than providing a direct image.

Key claims / outcomes highlighted

• The team at the Lab first experimentally created superionic ice (reported as achieved in 2018), experimentally confirming a phase proposed decades earlier.
• The experimental success supports the idea that computer models/simulations of water at extreme conditions have been accurate, and experiments can now improve simulation detail.
• Planned next steps:
  • Explore parts of the water phase diagram that remain unknown, especially:
    • Higher pressures at lower temperatures (beyond what was achieved).
  • Investigate new predicted solid ice phases at even higher pressures than reached so far.
  • Push experiments toward new regimes (including using the National Ignition Facility) to test predictions of increasingly complex solid-ice structures.

Researchers / sources featured

• Federica (lead speaker; first name not fully given in subtitles)
• Maren (lead speaker; first name not fully given in subtitles)
• Marius (lead speaker; first name not fully given in subtitles)
• National Ignition Facility (mentioned as an institution/facility for future experiments)