Crystal Growth and High-Pressure Synthesis of Solid State Materials

Condensed Matter Seminars

Speaker: Nikolai Zhigadlo, Laboratory for Solid State Physics, ETH Zurich
Date & Time: November 12, 2015, 2:00 - 3:00
Location: AMPEL 311
Local Contact: Andrea Damascelli
Intended Audience: Graduate

High-pressure conditions are often crucial for the successful synthesis of new materials, including many modern superconductors. After a short introduction to the technical aspects, the role of high-pressure, high-temperature methods in inorganic synthesis will be illustrated by means of several recent examples.

These encompass a broad range of compounds including: copper-based superconductors, ABO3 perovskite oxides, MgB2, pyrochlores, several families of iron-pnictides, various intermetallic superconductors (MgCNi3, Mo3Al2C, SrPt3P), helical magnets (CrAs, MnP) and two-dimensional layered semiconductors (h-BN, black-P, black-AsP). The availability of high-quality single crystals has proved crucial both in investigating their intrinsic thermodynamic and direction-dependent properties, as well as in the realistic assessment of their potential for applications.