Pressure tuning in the search for new and improved solid state materials

Pressure tuning is a potentially useful tool to increase the rate of discovery of solid-state materials with improved properties. The interaction parameters that determine the properties of a given material define a phase space, which can have one or more dimensions. A single solid-state compound can be represented by a single point in this phase space. The traditional approach to the search for new materials involves an exploration of phase space by sequential synthesis and characterization of new solid-state compounds. Because materials interaction parameters (e.g., orbital overlap, orbital energy, magnetic coupling, etc.) can be tuned with pressure, phase space can also be traversed with pressure, potentially allowing a property of interest to be optimized. The advantages of pressure tuning include the ability to tune rapidly and cleanly, typically without introducing disorder, phase separation, or other complicating factors. Demonstration of the existence of materials that exhibit improved properties at high pressure can provide insight into the structural and electronic parameters necessary for such improved properties to guide the search for such behavior at atmospheric pressure.