A large volume press (LVP) can generate high pressure (over 100000 atm) and high temperature (over 2000 °C) environments in sample volumes of several cubic mm to form new compounds, potentially metastable at room pressure.
Known examples are synthetic diamond and cubic BN, the hardest materials in the world.
Currently, research in nitrides is particularly popular due to their optoelectronic properties for use in, for example, solar cells, semiconductor for water splitting and LEDs. Therefore, new recently discovered compounds like tin oxynitride (Sn2N2O), stabilized with high pressure, is an exciting discovery besides other high-pressure nitrides already synthesized in our group in the past.
