Abstract
Nature is rich with examples of phenomena and environments we might consider extreme, at least from our familiar experience on Earth's surface: large fluxes of radiation and particles from the Sun, explosive asteroid collisions in space, volcanic eruptions that originate deep underground, extraordinary pressures and temperatures in the interiors of planets and stars, and electromagnetic discharges that occur, say, in sunspots and pulsars. We often intentionally create similar extreme environments - for example, in high-powered lasers, high-temperature turbines, internal-combustion engines, and industrial chemical plants. The response of materials to the broad range of such environments signals the materials' underlying structure and dynamics, provides insight into new phenomena, exposes failure modes that limit technological possibility, and presents novel routes for making new materials.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 32-37 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Volume | 62 |
| No | 11 |
| Specialist publication | Physics Today |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2009 |
Funding
In this article we provide an overview of how materials respond to extremes in energetic fluxes, thermomechanical forces, chemistry, and electromagnetic fields. The subject was the focus of a workshop held 11–13 June 2007 and sponsored by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Our presentation here contains the highlights; we encourage interested readers to consult the references and the full report from the workshop for more details.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Basic Energy Sciences |