The State Key Laboratory for Superhard Materials was established by the National Planning Commission in 1989 relying on Jilin University. It passed the national acceptance in 1995 and was officially opened to the public at home and abroad. In 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018, it passed the evaluation of the State Key Laboratory for four consecutive times with good results. The laboratory is the only State Key Laboratory with high pressure and superhard materials as its main research direction in China, and is an important research base for superhard materials and high pressure science in China. Its condensed matter physics discipline is the key construction discipline of the "211 Project", "985 Project" and "first-class university first-class discipline" projects of the Ministry of Education.
The laboratory has a high-level teaching staff, including CAS Member, winners of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, candidates of the "Ten Thousand Talents Plan" of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, candidates of the Hundred Thousand Talents Project and other high-end talents. The laboratory is supported by advanced instruments and equipment, with first-class high-end talents as the core and an active academic atmosphere as its characteristic. It has become an international first-class research platform and advanced talent training base, fully playing a leading role in related research fields and applications.
The laboratory focuses on the research of superhard materials and high-pressure scientific basic applications, with a focus on solving major scientific and application problems in national modernization construction and international cutting-edge fields. It has achieved numerous leading scientific achievements both internationally and domestically, and is one of the five laboratories that achieved million atmospheres of pressure earliest in the world. It has also prepared China's first CVD diamond film and conducted research on the high-speed growth of large-sized CVD single crystal diamond. It is one of the few laboratories in the world that can artificially synthesize all four types of gem grade single crystal diamond; Established a joint measurement platform for multiple physical quantities under high pressure and crystal structure prediction technology; Discovered a series of new structures and materials with ultra-high hardness, such as long-range ordered amorphous carbon; Discovered a new phenomenon of pressure induced luminescence and proposed the concept of PIE; For the first time internationally, theoretical predictions have been made regarding the transformation of metal sodium insulators under high pressure and high-temperature superconductors in hydrogen sulfur systems with transition temperatures exceeding 200K, which have been experimentally confirmed; In theory, a new type of hydrogen cage high-temperature superconductor was designed and successfully synthesized by two experimental groups in the United States and Germany. The experimentally measured superconducting temperature reached 250-260K, setting a new record for superconducting temperature and greatly advancing the research process of room temperature superconductors. The achievements of "novel structure phase transition and pressure effect of simple molecular condensation system under ultra-high pressure", "structure and physical properties of sodium and lithium single substances and binary compounds under high pressure", and "CALYPSO crystal structure prediction method and application" won the second prize of the the State Natural Science Award in 2014, 2015 and 2019 respectively; The achievements of "key technologies for cold drilling and thermal recovery of terrestrial gas hydrates" and "key technologies and applications of top driven precision pressure control scientific drilling equipment" won the second prize of the the State Technological Innovation Award in 2016 and 2019.
The State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials is an important base for the research of superhard materials and high-pressure physics in China. It has reached the international advanced level in the research direction of superhard multi-functional materials, high-pressure science and technology, and has undertaken a large number of important national scientific research tasks, made many important original work of international leading level, cultivated a large number of outstanding talents, actively promoted the industrialization of scientific research achievements, served the society, served the economic construction, and contributed to strengthening the international competitiveness of China's related disciplines and achieving sustainable development.