Tiny Quantum Sensors See Materials Transform Under Pressure

Diamond anvil cells have made it possible for scientists to recreate extreme phenomena, such as the crushing pressures deep inside the Earth’s mantle, or to enable chemical reactions that can only be triggered by intense pressure, all within the confines of a laboratory apparatus. To develop new, high-performance materials, scientists need to understand how useful properties, such as magnetism and strength, change under such harsh conditions. But often, measuring these properties with enough sensitivity requires a sensor that can withstand the crushing forces inside a diamond anvil cell. By turning natural atomic flaws inside the diamond anvils into tiny quantum sensors, scientists have developed a tool that opens the door to a wide range of experiments inaccessible to conventional sensors.