Scientists have made an exciting breakthrough in understanding how to measure extremely high temperatures in materials. This new method has changed long-held beliefs about superheating, which is when a substance reaches a temperature above its normal melting or boiling point without actually changing states.
Measuring the temperature of hot materials is challenging. For example, temperatures in the cores of planets or inside fusion reactors can soar to hundreds of thousands of degrees Kelvin. Traditionally, temperatures in these “warm dense matter” conditions were estimated, leading to significant errors. Bob Nagler, a staff scientist at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, emphasized that this uncertainty has complicated theoretical models for years.
Recently, a team led by SLAC researchers made history by directly measuring the temperature of atoms in warm dense matter for the first time. They published their findings in the journal Nature. This groundbreaking research involved superheating gold far beyond what scientists thought possible, contradicting a theory that had stood for four decades.
The researchers used a laser to heat a thin slice of gold. When they sent a pulse of ultrabright X-rays through it, they measured the speed of the vibrating atoms, which revealed their temperature. This method is a game-changer for studying materials under extreme conditions, which have unique phases that can behave differently from normal matter.
In their experiments, the team pushed the gold’s temperature to an astonishing 19,000 Kelvin (about 33,740 degrees Fahrenheit). This is more than 14 times its melting point. Despite this extreme heat, the gold remained solid. Dr. Tom White, an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, noted that they did not violate the laws of physics but showed that if materials are heated quickly enough, they can avoid catastrophic state changes.
The implications of this discovery reach beyond just gold. The team believes they may have been surpassing the entropy catastrophe limit in previous experiments without knowing it, all due to the lack of reliable temperature measurement methods. This could reshape our understanding of high-energy density science.
This new technique could prove invaluable for various fields, including fusion energy research. With the ability to accurately measure temperatures ranging from 1,000 to 500,000 Kelvin, researchers can get closer to developing efficient fusion energy, an essential step toward sustainable energy solutions.
Interestingly, this shift in understanding echoes historical moments in science when established theories were overturned, leading to significant advances. For example, the initial reactions to the discovery of quantum mechanics drastically changed physics, similar to how this research could redefine our knowledge of materials under heat.
For more on this groundbreaking discovery, you can read the full study in Nature [here](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09253-y).
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