DFG Priority Program 1236: 'Strukturen und Eigenschaften von Kristallen bei extrem hohen Drücken und Temperaturen'

Review “Synthesis of Binary Transition Metal Nitrides, Carbides and Borides from the Elements in the Laser-Heated Diamond Anvil Cell and Their Structure-Property Relations”
A. Friedrich, B. Winkler, E.A. Juarez-Arellano, L. Bayarjargal (2011) Materials 4, 1648-1692.

Alexandra Friedrich (Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main) has been awarded the prestigious Max-von-Laue Prize 2011 by the German Crystallographic Society (DGK) on September 20 during the joint meeting of the DGK/DMG/ÖMG in Salzburg, Austria. This prize is annually awarded an outstanding junior researcher for his work in the area of crystallography.
Alexandra Friedrich has been awarded this prize in recognition of her investigations on the stability as well as structural and physical properties of minerals and other solids in dependence of pressure, temperature and chemical composition, especially for her proof of the existence of rhenium nitrides at extreme conditions. This research was performed within her own SPP1236 project “High-(p,T) syntheses and characterisation of binary transition metal carbides and nitrides of the period 6 elements with atomic numbers 73-79”.

Article “Novel rhenium nitrides” by A. Friedrich, B. Winkler, L. Bayarjargal, W. Morgenroth, E. A. Juarez-Arellano,
V. Milman, K. Refson, M. Kunz, and K. Chen (2010) Physical Review Letters 105, 085504.
Novel bulk rhenium nitrides, hexagonal Re2N and Re3N have been synthesized and characterized. Both phases are ultra-incompressible with very high bulk moduli of >400 GPa, similar to the most incompressible binary transition-metal carbides and nitrides found to date. However, in contrast to other incompressible transition metal carbides and nitrides, Re3N is better placed for potential technological applications, as it can be formed at relatively moderate pressures (13–16 GPa) and temperatures (1600–2400 K).

Hauke Marquardt (GFZ, Potsdam) has been awarded the prestigious German Studienpreis 2010 by the Körber Foundation. The official award ceremony will take place on the 23rd of November at the German Prliament in presence of the president of the Bundestag, Norbert Lammert, patron of the competition.
Hauke Marquardt is actually working at the SPP 1236 project ”Determination of single-crystal elastic properties of olivine and serpentine as a function of chemical composition at conditions of subduction zones up to 25 GPa,1000^oC” led by
S. Speziale, M. Wilke and S. Jahn (GFZ Potsdam).

A. Friedrich and L. Bayarjargal have both convinced the Goethe University Frankfurt as young scientists with their own DFG-funded projects within the SPP1236 and have been additionally funded for development of their present and future research.

The synchrotron experiment within the SPP 1236 project “B, B-C and B-N compounds at high pressures and high temperatures” led by Natalia Dubrovinskaia (Heidelberg) and Leonid Dubrovinsky (Bayreuth) was selected by ESRF for video recording to present the work of synchrotron users. A video film “ESRF: Time on the Line” was issued by WORLD WIDE PICTURES.

E. Zarechnaya, L. Dubrovinsky (Bayreuth) and N. Dubrovinskaia (Heidelberg) for the first time synthesised single crystals of the orthorhombic HP boron. The results of this investigation were published in Physical Review Letters.

Fiorenza Deon (GFZ, Potsdam) has been selected to receive an Outstanding Student Paper Award for her presentation "Water incorporation in wadsleyite and its influence on the olivine-wadsleyite phase boundary" at the AGU 2008 Fall Meeting in San Francisco.