Liquid carbon formed using a high-energy laser

Using pulses of an ultrabright X-ray free-electron laser, the structure of liquid carbon was determined at pressures exceeding one million atmospheres and temperatures of around 7,000 kelvin. This approach revealed a complex fluid with a water-like structure and an average of four neighbouring atoms around each central carbon atom. The ‘melting line’ of diamond has been mapped by heating sample to about 7,000 kelvin.