Theoretical design of diamondlike superhard structures at high pressure

Diamond, as the hardest known material, has been widely used in industrial applications as abrasives, coatings, and cutting and polishing tools, but it is restricted by several shortcomings, e.g., its low thermal and chemical stability. Considerable efforts have been devoted to designing or synthesizing the diamond-like B-C-N-O compounds, which exhibit excellent mechanical property. In this paper, we review the recent theoretical design of diamond-like superhard structures at high pressure. In particular, the recently designed high symmetric phase of low-energy cubic BC3 meets the experimental observation, and clarifies the actual existence of cubic symmetric phase for the compounds formed by B-C-N-O system, besides the classical example of cubic boron nitride.