9418328 Mao This award provides funding for the operation, maintenance, and further development of an X-ray diffraction dacility dedicated for ultra-high pressure diamond-anvil cell experimentation at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) in Brookhaven National Laboratory. The facility makes use of the unique characteristics of the hard X-radiation produced by bending and wiggler magnets at the NSLS to characterize the physical and chemical properties of materials subjected to pressure in a diamond-anvil cell. Recent advances in diamond-cell and synchrotron X-ray diffraction technologies have opened new areas of research on the effect of ultra-high pressures and simultaneous temperatures (300 GPa and several thousand Kelvin) under conditions simulating those in the deep interior of planets such as Earth. ***
