IUCr Congress,
Geneva, 9. 8. 2002, Microsymposium M34
Novel Materials and Physical Properties at High Pressure
(Paul McMillan, Yasuhiko Fuji Chairs)
Due to recent scientific and technical advances in the field, the high pressure
variable is becoming of increasing importance in crystallography and studies
of amorphous materials, and in the synthesis and design of new technological
materials. This interdisciplinary session gave a series of exciting insights
into various aspects of research at the frontiers of this emerging field.
The session opened with a presentation by John Tse (Ottawa, Canada) on the
role of computational studies to predict and understand new and hypothetical
high-pressure structures and physical phenomena. This was followed by Toshimori
Sekine (NIMS, Japan), who described the latest shock-wave methods for high-throughput
synthesis of high-pressure nitride and oxynitride spinels and Nadesha Serebryanaya
(Troitsk, Russia) who presented studies of new super-hard carbon materials
based on high pressure-high temperature treatment of fullerences and C-nanotubes.
Katsuya Shimizu (Osaka, Japan) showed the latest techniques for electrical
and magnetic properties measurements under high-P and cryogenic conditions,
and showed that the "superconducting periodic table" now extends to all classes
of elements under megabar pressures. Craig Bull (RI, London) described results
of "pressure-tuning" IR absorption properties of electronic perovskites,
and Maddury Somayazulu (Argonne, USA) gave new insights into the comparative
"mineralogical" structural chemistry of CO2 and N2O/NO2
solids. The session ended with Andreas Zerr (Darmstadt, Germany), who described
recent results in determining the structure and physical properties of the
newly-discovered family of high-pressure nitride spinels and post-spinel
materials, that are likely to become of great technological significance.
Paul McMillan, University College, London.