Percy W. Bridgman's second century

Abstract

Percy Williams Bridgman's impact on science began in 1909 with his first three experimental papers. These publications on high pressure calibration, techniques, and compressibility, together with the many articles that followed, established his influence on the course of modern high pressure research. Grounded in classical thermodynamics and practical mechanics, his developments showed how the variable of pressure leads to myriad transformations in materials. Studies carried out under a broader range of conditions now provide unprecedented insights into chemical and physical properties at multimegabar pressures and temperatures from millikelvins to thousands of degrees, where novel electronic, magnetic, and superconducting phases are now being discovered. With careful attention to experimental techniques and material performance, Bridgman extended the available pressure range that could be achieved in the laboratory with the development of new devices. We are now witness to continued refinement of static and dynamic compression methods and in situ measurement techniques, including the marriage of high pressure methods with large facilities such as synchrotron, neutron, and laser sources. Bridgman showed the broad range of implications of this work; the modern field of high pressure research now spans physics and chemistry, geosciences and planetary science, materials science and technology, and biology. Selected examples illustrate Bridgman's impact and legacy in this, his second century. For dense hydrogen, new insights have been obtained from high P–T measurements as well as studies of alloys and compounds of hydrogen, leading to the creation of new metallic and superconducting phases. Studies of other hydrogen-rich systems provide both tests of fundamental theory and potentially useful materials for hydrogen storage. High pressure studies of oxides have led to new ferroelectric and multiferroic materials and phases with remarkable properties that guide the design and fabrication of new devices. With the discovery of super-Earths outside our solar system, the high pressure properties of silicates, oxides, volatiles, and the full complement of planetary materials are now problems of cosmic importance well beyond the conditions found on and within the Earth. Developments in high pressure biology are addressing the question of the depth of the biosphere, the processes and reservoirs of carbon in our planet, and new insights into the origins of life as we know it, as well as the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Improved materials that can withstand high P–T conditions and other extreme environments include new forms of diamond, which are advancing experimental methods and finding numerous applications in advanced technology. These developments dovetail with synergetic advances in a broad spectrum of radiation techniques including coherent X-ray, intense neutron, and ultrabright laser sources.

Keywords:

• high pressure techniques
• polymorphism
• melting
• hydrogen
• van der Waals compounds
• electrical phenomena
• geosciences
• planetary science
• carbon
• biology
• diamond

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge my many collaborators at Carnegie, now and in the past, a large number of collaborators from other institutions, and many colleagues with whom I have discussed the topics described above. Special thanks goes to R.E. Cohen, S. Gramsch, T. Strobel and S. Hardy for comments on the paper, and to M. Phillips and D. Appleby, for help with preparation of the manuscript. This work was supported by NSF, DOE, NASA, DoD, and NNSA/DOE.

Notes

^§Adapted from the 2009 P.W. Bridgman Award Lecture, Joint AIRAPT-22 and HPCJ-50 Conference, 26–31 July 2009, Tokyo, Japan.