Defects and strain evolution in nanocrystals under high pressure tracked with Bragg Coherent X-ray Diffraction Imaging.

Measuring and understanding the internal strain changes in response to the external pressure produces critical information to unveil the origin of unconventional behavior of crystalline materials in high-pressure environments. Moreover, defects in nano-crystals have a critical influence on the properties of nanocrystals where a single defect can completely modify the properties. Because of the close proximity of surfaces the energy and mobility of defects in nano-objects are borne to be very different from what they are in the bulk. The primary goal is the understanding of the defect behavior (creation, stability, annihilation, defect-defect interaction) including the strain fields surrounding them in nano-objects under high-pressure. We propose to perform in-situ experiments combining High-pressure and Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging, which has become the most effective technique for imaging the 3D structure of individual crystals.