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Gold's FCC Structure Holds Strong Under Extreme Pressure

11/22/2025

Summary

Story summary

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory report in Physical Review Letters that gold remains face-centered cubic (FCC) under pressures up to about 10 million times Earth's atmospheric pressure.
Gold remains FCC up to pressures twice Earth's core, with signs of a transition to body-centered cubic (BCC) structure at higher pressures.
Coexistence of FCC and BCC phases enhances understanding of gold as a pressure calibrant and improves accuracy in planetary-core experiments.

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Story summary

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory report in Physical Review Letters that gold remains face-centered cubic (FCC) under pressures up to about 10 million times Earth's atmospheric pressure.
Gold remains FCC up to pressures twice Earth's core, with signs of a transition to body-centered cubic (BCC) structure at higher pressures.
Coexistence of FCC and BCC phases enhances understanding of gold as a pressure calibrant and improves accuracy in planetary-core experiments.