In The News

Ian Ocampo's presentation at the 2024 AGU Annual Meeting.
Dr. Ian Ocampo receives Outstanding Student Presentation Award from AGU
March 28, 2025
Fieldtrip participates as seen within the mine
Mineralogy students on a field trip to the Sterling Hill Mine
Nov. 11, 2024
Ian Ocampo in the great hall during his defense celebration
Congratulations to Dr. Ian Ocampo for successfully defending his Ph.D. Thesis
Aug. 2, 2024
Sirius with family and friends at a celebration in Guyot Hall
Congratulations to Dr. Sirus Han for successfully defending their Ph.D. Thesis
May 16, 2024
A 3D illustration of the structure of the Earth. Credit: Shutterstock/ Rost9
A novel crystal structure sheds light on the dynamics of extrasolar planets
July 18, 2022
Rajkrishna Dutta *19
Rajkrishna Dutta receives Gordon Conference Jamieson Award
June 22, 2022
Jianjun Jiang sits at his desk photo
In Memoriam: Dr. Jianjun Jiang
May 20, 2022
Mineral structure model. Illustration is courtesy of Rajkrishna Dutta.
What’s Happening In The Depths Of Distant Worlds?
March 1, 2022
Sirus Han certificate
Sirus Han recipient of Geosciences 2021 Service and Outreach Awards for Graduate Students
Nov. 19, 2021
Ian Ocampo poster image
Graduate Student Ian Ocampo Named One of Four Competition Winners for the 2021 LaserNetUS Best Student Poster Awards
Nov. 19, 2021
Laser Drilling
New Laser Drilling and Micro-Machining System Installed in the Mineral Physics Lab
May 4, 2021
Micro-manipulator system image
New Micro-Manipulator Installed in Mineral Physics Lab
May 4, 2021
Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship logo
John Copley Wins Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship
May 3, 2021
In situ XRay Diffraction of Zinc Oxide Under Laser-Driven Ramp Compression: Extreme Metastability of the B1-type Structure Collaborators
Ian Ocampo Wins Best Poster Award
April 30, 2021
An artistic rendering of the interior structure of Earth (left) compared to a large rocky exoplanet (right). Credit: John Jett and Federica Coppari/LLNL.
Lasers reveal the secret interior of rocky exoplanets
Feb. 26, 2021
Artist’s representation of meteorites falling to Earth. (Image by Shutterstock/Triff/NASA.)
High-impact research: How meteorite strikes may change quartz on the Earth’s crust
Dec. 2, 2020
Rajkrishna Dutta *19
Rajkrishna Dutta *19 named recipient of AGU Student Paper Award
Sept. 30, 2020
X-ray diffraction images showing the new form of silica created by sending an intense shock wave through a sample of quartz using a specialized gas gun. Image is courtesy of Sally June Tracy, Stefan Turneaure, and Thomas Duffy.
Meteorite Strikes May Create Unexpected Form Of Silica
Aug. 26, 2020
The new multi-institutional Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP) Image courtesy of CMAP
Princeton researchers join collaboration of NSF Physics Research Center
Aug. 19, 2020
Analog Super-Earths
Using an Analog to Investigate the Interiors of “Super-Earths”
May 5, 2020
An artist illustrated this image of an exoplanet in a distant star system. (Image: © NASA)
Physicists Scramble to Understand the Extreme Crystals Hiding Inside Giant, Alien Planets
April 9, 2019
At the NIF laser facility (left), Princeton researchers aim to use the world’s most powerful laser to recreate the conditions deep inside large, rocky extrasolar planets (right). Images courtesy of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Geoscience Researchers Awarded Experimental Time on World’s Most Powerful Laser
Feb. 19, 2019
June Wicks holds a target assembly for ultrahigh-pressure laser compression experiments.
Ultrahigh-pressure laser experiments shed light on cores of ‘super-Earth’ exoplanets
April 25, 2018
UNDER PRESSURE Using lasers, scientists compressed iron to high pressures that are likely found in large, rocky exoplanets’ cores. Here, an image of inside the laser chamber is shown with an artist’s rendering of an exoplanet. MARK MEAMBER/NIF
Lasers squeezed iron to mimic the conditions of exoplanet cores
April 16, 2018
The rapid compression of silica to pressures of 36 GPa and higher transforms it from an amorphous material to a tetragona crystal. S. J. Tracy et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. (2018)
Solving a fifty year mystery: Fused silica’s high-pressure phase under shock compression
March 29, 2018