Abstract
Various transparent nano-ceramics have been synthesized using direct conversion from bulk glass starting materials under pressures higher than ～10 GPa and at high temperatures in Kawai-type Multi-anvil Apparatus (KMA). Rapid nucleation followed by slow crystal/grain growth is the key to synthesize such nano-ceramics at the ultra-high pressure regime. Thus synthesized novel ceramics have interesting features, such as higher hardness and lower thermal conductivity relative to those of the corresponding single crystals, in addition to their high optical transparencies, which may be useful for some scientific and industrial applications.
