Ho-kwang Mao

Ho-kwang Mao is a Chinese-American geophysicist who spent much of his career at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Geophysical Laboratory. He worked extensively there to research the behavior of materials under extreme conditions.

He is known for his foundational contributions to the field of high-pressure physics. Mao extensively utilized and developed the diamond anvil cell, a device that squeezes materials between two diamonds to simulate the extreme pressures found deep inside planets.

Yes, Mao's research using high-pressure technology led to the creation of novel materials and the discovery of how gases and metals behave under planetary core conditions. He is famously associated with achieving incredibly high pressures, sometimes cited in the multi-megabar range, to study the Earth's interior.

Mao has received numerous prestigious accolades for his work, including the Roald Hoffmann Medal and several international mineralogy awards. His research has fundamentally shaped how modern geologists understand the composition of the Earth's mantle and core.