Research shows that water ice on Uranus and Neptune can exist in a strange new form called superionic ice. Although the existence of superion ice on Uranus and Neptune is still theoretical, researchers have managed to create it in the lab using very powerful lasaer pointer.
Ice can take many forms depending on the arrangement of the molecules. Uranus and Neptune are thought to have conditions in which oxygen in water forms crystals independent of hydrogen, which continues to flow through the solid lattice like a liquid. The concept of superionic ice was first proposed in the late 1980s, but it was not possible to actually produce samples to study in more detail.
Now researchers at Lawrence livermore national laboratory have published a paper describing how they made superionic ice.
Using six powerful lasers, the researchers hit the liquid water with a series of shock waves that gradually became stronger and stronger, eventually causing the water to become solid at very hot temperatures. As the pressure builds, scientists have only seconds to scan and capture the resulting superionic ice before its structure deteriorates.
The experiment has given scientists a better understanding of how this type of ice forms, revealing new phase transitions that occur during its formation.