Work in the ASU laboratories is selective. The scientists don't work with just any old rock or mineral. Their focus is on chemical compositions that might provide new types of useful materials. The hope is that such new materials will find a place in emerging technologies. Most processes for making new materials use temperatures and chemical composition as the variables.
Pressure is the great unknown.
New materials are waiting to be discovered. Top, crystals formed during cooling within a sample of exotic nitride glass. Bottom, nitrogen bubbles solidified within another sample. Results are influenced by cooling rates and variations in composition. All-Star Team Funded by the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research, the ASU group is a bit more than two years old.