Metals under extreme conditions

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The understanding of the electronic properties of metals under extreme conditions, e.g., under high pressure or confinement, are vital for future technological applications, and of considerable interest from a fundamental science point of view. Our project will enable us to carry out a detailed study of the electronic properties as a function of pressure and confinement, as well as the corresponding changes of the atomic mobility, structural phase transitions, and crystallization. Additionally, theoretical models for the Knight shift and spin relaxation that follow from the electronic properties, for self-diffusion, and the influence of high pressure on metallic nano-structures will be developed. Our study will include solid and liquid metals such as gallium, sodium, lead, tin, and selected alloys (Ga-In, Ga-Sn, Na-K), subjected to high pressures and embedded into mesoporous matrices in interaction with surfaces in a variety of nano-structures. The main experimental techniques will be high-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), combined with new groundbreaking high-sensitivity Giga-Pascal pressure cells, i. e., up to 200 kbar or 20 GPa. Complementary magnetometry and ultrasonic spectroscopy will be employed.