中文摘要：

超硬材料研究有两个重要难题一直备受关注：一是建立晶体宏观性能硬度与微观电子结构参数的定量关联,指导新型超硬晶体的设计;二是发现改进超硬材料综合性能（硬度、韧性和稳定性）的基本原理和技术途径,合成出综合性能更加优异的高性能超硬材料.首先从同时联系晶体硬度和电子结构的化学键出发,提出了共价晶体的压痕硬度为晶体中化学键对压头压入过程的综合阻抗的基本假设,建立了共价晶体硬度的微观模型并推广至多晶共价材料.在多晶硬度模型指导下,在高温高压条件下成功地合成出了纳米孪晶结构的立方氮化硼和金刚石块材,实现了硬度、韧性及热稳定性这三大工具材料性能指标的同时提高.另外,澄清了关于压痕硬度测量的长期争论.本文的研究为研发高性能超硬材料打开了一条新的技术途径,有望带来机械加工业和高压科学领域的新变革.

英文摘要：

In this review, we present our recent research progress in superhard materials, with specially focusing on two topics.One topic is to understand hardness microscopically and establish the quantitative relationship between hardness and atomic parameters of crystal, which can be used to guide the design of novel superhard crystals. The other topic is to identify the fundamental principle and technological method to enhance the comprehensive performances（i.e., hardness,fracture toughness, and thermal stability） of superhard materials, and to synthesize high-performance superhard materials. Starting from the chemical bonds associated with crystal hardness and electronic structure, we propose a microscopic understanding of the indentation hardness as the combined resistance of chemical bonds in a material to indentation.Under this assumption, we establish the microscopic hardness model of covalent single crystals and further generalize it to polycrystalline materials. According to the polycrystalline hardness model, we successfully synthesize nanotwinned cubic boron nitride and diamond bulks under high pressure and high temperature. These materials exhibit simultaneous improvements in hardness, fracture toughness, and thermal stability. We also clarify a long-standing controversy about the criterion for performing a reliable indentation hardness measurement. Our research points out a new direction for developing the high-performance superhard materials, and promises innovations in both machinery processing industry and high pressure science.