Ultrafast photonic hammer: A new strategy to synthesise super-dense super-hard nanomaterials

Ordinary substances behave in extraordinary ways at high temperature and pressure, and the science of matter is now changing our fundamental understanding of physics and chemistry. This project will develop a new strategy for producing new super-dense super-hard amorphous and crystalline nanomaterials by femtosecond laser pulses at the previously unachievable, record-high heating and annealing rates. These studies will provide a deeper insight into the fundamentals of material behaviour under extreme conditions. The unique approach to the inexpensive and fast synthesis of a large variety of new super-dense materials with improved mechanical and electronic properties will have industrial application in creation of new nanomaterials.