* Astronomy

An international team of researchers including scientists at the Carnegie Institution has discovered a new chemical compound that consists of a single element - boron. Chemical compounds are conventionally defined as substances consist of two or more elements, but the researchers found that a high pressure and temperature pure boron can assume two distinct forms that bond together to create a novel 'compound' called boron boride.

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Because of its low mass, high strength, and response to neutron irradiation, boron has important applications in technology, including nuclear engineering and in extreme environments. The recent work builds on the discovery of superconductivity of boron in 2001 by researchers at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory. That study revealed superconductivity with a relatively high transition temperature for an element, but the underlying structure and mechanism have remained puzzles. The current study is an important step toward understanding the transition to superconductivity in boron under pressure.
The research team included theorists and experimentalists using a broad range of high-pressure methods, subjecting materials to pressures above 120,000 atmospheres and temperatures above 1,400 degrees Celsius (approximately 2550 degrees Fahrenheit).

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