Liquid carbon characterized using a free electron laser
Wednesday, September 16, 2020 - 06:00
in Physics & Chemistry
From common soot to precious diamonds, carbon is familiar in many guises, but there have been little more than glimpses of carbon in the liquid form. Researchers at the FERMI Free Electron Laser (FEL) source have now not only generated a liquid carbon sample, but have characterized its structure, tracking the ultrafast rearrangements of electron bonding and atomic coordinates that take place as their carbon samples melt. "As far as I know, that is the fastest structural transition in condensed matter," says Emiliano Principi, principal investigator on the project.