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SUMMARY:Complexity at High Pressure   From Pure Elements to Thermoelectric
 s - Dr. Ingo Loa\, CSEC Edinburgh.
DTSTART:20151202T111500Z
DTEND:20151202T121500Z
UID:TALK61000@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Helen Verrechia
DESCRIPTION:At ordinary conditions\, almost all the metallic elements adop
 t simple\, densely-packed crystal structures. Until 15 years ago\, the sam
 e was assumed to apply generally at high pressure\, but this expectation h
 as proved to be spectacularly wrong. Numerous elements across the periodic
  table are now known to adopt very complex crystal structures at high pres
 sure\, with profound effects on their physical properties. The archetypal 
 simple metals lithium and sodium have been reported to become semiconducto
 rs\; many of the complex phases are superconducting at low temperature\, a
 nd potassium has been predicted to become magnetic under pressure. An over
 view of the research that has led to a dramatic change of our understandin
 g of the structural and physical properties of elemental metals at high pr
 essure will be given. I will then discuss and illustrate how these advance
 s can benefit the research on thermoelectric materials\, where structural 
 complexity is a sought-after property.
LOCATION:Mott Seminar Room (531)\, Cavendish Laboratory\, Department of Ph
 ysics
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