Crystal structure prediction and materials behaviors under extreme conditions from first-principles calculations


yuhulei - Posted on 25 February 2015

Project Description: 

This project is a scientific computing research on materials based on first principle calculations supervised by Dr. Yue CHEN.

It has two main purposes. One is to investigate the behaviors of the materials under extreme high pressure (EHP) or extreme high temperature (EHT) from theoretical approaches, which gives effective guidance in real experiments study or overcome the limitation of the real experiments conditions

The other is to explore on some possibly new structure/phrase of thermoelectric materials, like SnSe and PbTe, under EHP or EHT. The materials may also become newly unknown stable materials as in new phases or new crystal structures under normal conditions and with excellent performance in relative physical properties.

Researcher name: 
Dr. Yue CHEN
Researcher position: 
Assistant Professor
Researcher department: 
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Researcher email: 
Research Project Details
Project Duration: 
03/2015 to 03/2019
Project Significance: 
Using computing methods, we hope to predict the newly possibly stable structures of the materials (mainly focus on PbTe, SnSe these two composites) under different EHP and/or EHT conditions. And through the study of the newly predicted compound and structures from electrical and atomic level, we may could found the new stable materials with excellent thermoelectric or superconductive properties. Also, the computation prediction can help the experimental study more effective and targeted, reducing cost of both time and money.   In addition, by comparing the experimental data and the computing results, we may improve the computation method based on first-principles into a more accurate and effective form.
Remarks: 
The HPC plays a significant important role in computation and data processing. The higher computing performance really reduces the research periods.