High Pressure Crystallography:
from Novel Experimental Approaches to Applications
in Cutting-Edge Technologies
the fortyfirst crystallographic course at the Ettore Majorana Centre, Erice, Italy
4-14 June 2009
Directors : Elena Boldyreva, Novosibirsk and Przemyslaw Dera, Washington
(Only preliminary data are presently available)
Speakers who have accepted to lecture
Anatoly Balagurov RU
Tiziana Boffa Ballaran GER
Natalya Dubrovinsky GER
Francesca Fabbiani UK
Roger Fourme FRA
P.T.C Freire BRA
Igor Goncharenko FRA
Fernando Rodriguez Gonzalez SPA
Giovanni Hearne SA
Andrzej Katrusiak POL
Kei Hirose JAP
Jennifer Jackson USA
Paul McMillan UK
Artem Oganov CH
Nancy Ross USA
Crystelle Sanloup FRA
Mario Santoro ITA
Vladimir Solozhenko UKR
Heidrun Sowa GER
Renata Wentzcovitch USA
Bjorrn Winkler GER
Roland Winter GER
Scientific purpose
As a thermodynamic parameter, pressure is remarkable in many ways. It spans
in the visible universe over sixty orders of magnitude, from the non-equilibrium
pressure of hydrogen in intergalactic space, to the kind of pressure encountered
within neutron stars. In the laboratory, it provides unique possibility to control
structure and properties of materials, dramatically alter electronic properties,
break existing, or form new chemical bonds by reaching compressions in excess
of an order of magnitude for molecular materials. This agenda naturally encompasses
elements of physics (properties and structure), chemistry (chemical reactions,
transport), materials science (new materials) and engineering (mechanical properties);
in addition it has direct applications and implications for geology (minerals
in their natural, deep earth environments), planetary sciences, biology and
medicine (deep sea ecosystems, membranes, protein and nucleic acid folding,
the role of high-pressure in the origin of prebiotic forms of matter and the
origin of life, des-activation of viruses and toxins). Beyond its specificity,
high-pressure science finds direct or indirect (i.e. economic) application in
several fields of modern European technology, such as mechanical engineering
(strain/stress analysis), optoelectronics and spintronics, nanotechnology, pharmaceutical
industry, food processing, petroleum industry,
Topics
a. Methods at H.P. : First principles theory; Single crystal,
powder X-ray & neutron diffraction; Laue & white-beam experiments; Synchrotron
radiation; Brillouin & X-ray emission spectroscopy; IR & NMR; Design
of anvils; Instrument and kits demos;
b. Results : Charge density; Magnetism; Synthesis; Solid reactivity; Oxides,
silicates, clathrates, metals, strain analysis; Perovskite phases; Nanomaterials;
H-bonds, Molecular crystals, drugs, proteins; Food technology; Super-hard materials;
Very H.P. experiments; Slot open to future hot topics