SPP 1236:  Synthesis, "In Situ" Characterisation and Quantum Mechanical Modelling of Earth Materials, Oxides, Carbides and Nitrides at Extremely High Pressures and Temperatures

• Subject Area: Geosciences
• Term: from 2006 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 18304940

Recent developments in the field of laser-heated diamond anvil cell research, in the use of multi-anvil devices and in parameter free quantum mechanical model calculations have opened up new opportunities to synthesise, characterise and understand properties of high density materials present in the Earth's mantle and of inorganic compounds crystallising in previously unknown structure types.
Based on these methods, projects within the Priority Programme will address the question: Which novel phases can be synthesised at extreme HP/HT conditions, what are their physical properties (including stabilities) and how can an understanding of structure-property relations be exploited to extend our knowledge on the crystal chemistry, crystal growth, geophysical relevance or the possibility of "rational design" of such new materials?
The specific projects in the Priority Programme will answer fundamental questions in the earth sciences, material sciences and solid state chemistry, which could not have been investigated previously. Projects within the Priority Programme will investigate how to obtain hard and superhard materials, how to systematically understand the crystal chemistry of dense phases, and how structure-property relations change at extremely HP/HT.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• International Connection: USA

Projects

• Ammonium in high-pressure minerals - a sink for hydrogen and nitrogen in the Earth´s mantle (Applicant Heinrich, Wilhelm )
• B, B-C and B-N compounds at high pressures and hig temperatures (Applicant Dubrovinskaia, Natalia )
• Combining experimental and computational approaches to determine high P and T thermal conductivity of CaGeO3 and MgSiO3 perovskite (Applicant Frost, Daniel J. )
• Coordination of the priority program 1236 (Applicant Winkler, Björn )
• Determination of single-crystal elastic properties of olivine and serpentine as a function of chemical composition at conditions of subduction zones up to GPa, 1000°C (Applicant Speziale, Sergio )
• Effect of water in wadsleyite and ringwoodite on the P-T-x coordinates of the wadsleyite-ringwoodite phase transformation: an experimental and thermodynamic study (Applicant Koch-Müller, Monika )
• Elasticity or iron and iron-based alloys at conditions of the Earth`s and planetary cores (Applicant Dubrovinsky, Leonid )
• High-(P,T) properties of tantalum and titanium carbides and nitrides (Applicant Winkler, Björn )
• High (p,T) properties of wide band-gap semiconductors from second harmonic generation measurements (Applicant Bayarjargal, Lkhamsuren )
• High-(p,T) syntheses and characterisation of binary transition metal carbides and nitrides of the period 6 elements with atomic numbers 73-79 (Applicant Friedrich, Alexandra )
• High pressure and high temperature synthesis and in-situ characterization of new compounds with special electronic transport properties, using "lone-pair" oxides, fluorides, sulphides and selenides of elements from groups 14-16 (Applicant Jansen, Martin )
• High-pressure high temperature 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy in laser-heated diamond anvil cells: Applications for the mineralogy of Earths´s lower mantle and core (Applicant McCammon, Catherine )
• High-Pressure High-Temperature Synthesis of Novel Binary and Ternary Superhard Phases in the B-C-N System (Applicant Riedel, Ralf )
• High pressure-induced structural transformations in lead-based perovskite type relaxor ferroelectrics (Applicant Mihailova, Boriana )
• High-Pressure Nitridosilicates, Oxonitridosilicates and Nitridophosphates and Related Binary Nitrides (Applicant Schnick, Wolfgang )
• High-Pressure Synthesis of Gallium Oxonitrides and Indium Oxonitrides and their solid solutions (Applicants Huppertz, Hubert ;  Kinski, Isabel )
• High-Pressure Synthesis of Novel Binary and Ternary Superhard Phases in the Si-C-N System (Applicants Kroll, Peter ;  Riedel, Ralf )
• Indium oxide(In2O3) under high pressure: rational design of new polymorphs and characterisation of their physico-chemical properties (Applicants Gurlo, Aleksander ;  Kleebe, Hans-Joachim )
• Iron dynamics in earth mantle minerals probed by Mössbauer spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation (Applicant Schünemann, Volker )
• Laser-heating facility for diamond anvil cells (Applicant Winkler, Björn )
• Magnetic, Electronic and Structural Transitions in Iron Bearing Minerals under Pressure: Theory and Experiment (Applicant Pentcheva, Rossitza )
• Nitride chemistry of geomaterials: Formation, crystal structures and properties of multinary metal nitrides prepared at high pressures (Applicants Dronskowski, Richard ;  Niewa, Rainer ;  Schwarz, Ulrich )
• Noble gases in silicate perovskite: Solubility, dissolution mechanism and influence on the equation of state (Applicant Keppler, Hans )
• Phase diagram of ammonia up to 200 GPa, search for ionic phase. Ionic and superionic conductivity of hot solid ammonia (Applicant Eremets, Mikhail )
• Quantum-chemical prediction and computational characterization of high-pressure transitionmetal nitrides and oxynitrides (Applicant Dronskowski, Richard )
• Single-crystal X-ray high-pressure crystallography in excess of 1000°C using new laser and internal heating devices (Applicant Dubrovinsky, Leonid )
• Spinels at elevated Pressure and Temperature: Linking Geo- and Material-Scientific Projects (Applicant Schilling, Frank Rüdiger )
• Synthesis and in-situ characterization of boron-doped superhard nanodiamond materials (Applicant Dubrovinsky, Leonid )
• Synthesis, structure and properties of carbonates at earth-mantle conditions (Applicants Depmeier, Wulf ;  Jahn, Sandro )
• Systematics of the post-spinel tranisition in Fe-bearing compositions (Applicants Frost, Daniel J. ;  Langenhorst, Falko ;  Woodland, Alan Butler )
• The System Si-Al-O-N at Extreme Pressures: A Synthetic and Computational Route to Novel Materials? (Applicants Heide, Gerhard ;  Kortus, Jens ;  Kroke, Edwin )
• Water partitioning between coexisting olivine (ol) and wadsleyite (wads) and the effect of the OH-defect concentrations on the P-T-x coordinates of the ol-wads phase transformation (Applicant Koch-Müller, Monika )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Björn Winkler