Dr. Cong Liu

Now I'm post-doc in Earth and Planets Laboratory of Carnegie Institution for Science under supervision of Dr. Ronald Cohen and work on the transport properties of planetary core materials, with a specific emphasis on solid and liquid iron alloys. This study plan outlines the objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes of my research, highlighting its relevance to our understanding of planetary formation and evolution.

I obtained my PhD in physics at Nanjing University under the supervision of Prof. Jian Sun。 From 2016 to 2021, I worked on constructing models for planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, based on first principles calculation. At the interior of planets, condensed matter is subjected to extreme pressures temperatures, thus can exhibit exotic states such as superionic and plastic phases; precise knowledge of these uncommon phases is necessary to understand the formation and evolution of planets (because the thermal and transport properties of the planets interior may significantly change depending on the specific phase). From 2021 to 2023, I began my postdoctoral period at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya under the supervision of Dr. Cazorla Claudio and work the theoretical study of quantum solids such as Helium-4 and other analogous boson crystals by using Density Functional Theory, Quantum Monte Carlo simulations and Machine-Learning techniques.

contact:cliu10@carnegiescience.edu

CV / Email / Google Scholar / ORCID

Research

My research is focused on condensed matter physics and states of matters at high pressure based on first principle calculations, Quantum Monte Carlo methods, crystal structure predictions, and machine-learning potentials.

# represents Co first author; * represents corresponding author

	Excitonic Insulator to Superconductor Phase Transition in Ultra-Compressed Helium Cong Liu, Ion Errea, Chi Ding, Chris Pickard, Lewis J. Conway, Bartomeu Monserrat, Yue-Wen Fang, Qing Lu, Jian Sun, Jordi Boronat, Claudio Cazorla^* Nature Communications, 2023
	Atomic-Scale Pentagraphene Ribbons Stabilized with Alkali Metals under Moderate Pressures Kang Xia, Chi Ding, Jianan Yuan, Cong Liu, Hao Gao, Jian Sun^* Inorganic Chemistry, 2022
	Metallic Aluminum Suboxides with Ultrahigh Electrical Conductivity at High Pressure Tianheng Huang, Cong Liu, Junjie Wang, Shuning Pan, Yu Han, Chris J. Pickard, Ravit Helled, Hui-Tian Wang, Dingyu Xing, Jian Sun^* Research, 2022
	Partially Diffusive Helium-Silica Compound in the Deep Interiors of Giant Planets Cong Liu, Junjie Wang, Xin Deng, Xiaomeng Wang, Chris J. Pickard, Ravit Helled, Zongqing Wu, Hui-Tian Wang, Dingyu Xing, Jian Sun^* Chinese Physics Letters, 2022
	Superionic Silica-Water and Silica-Hydrogen Compounds in the Deep Interiors of Uranus and Neptune Hao Gao^#, Cong Liu^#, Jiuyang Shi, Shuning Pan, Tianheng Huang, Xiancai Lu, Hui-Tian Wang, Dingyu Xing, Jian Sun^* Physical Review Letters, 2022 (Featured in Physics, Editors' Suggestion)
	Icosahedral silicon boride: A potential hybrid photovoltaic-thermoelectric for energy harvesting Kang Xia, Qun Chen, Hao Gao, Xiaolei Feng, Jianan Yuan, Cong Liu, Simon A. T. Redfern, Jian Sun^* Physical Review Materials, 2021
	Mixed Coordination Silica at Megabar Pressure Cong Liu, Jiuyang Shi, Hao Gao, Junjie Wang, Yu Han, Xiancai Lu, Hui-Tian Wang, Dingyu Xing, Jian Sun^* Physical Review Letters, 2021 (my favourite)
	Electronically Driven 1D Cooperative Diffusion in a Simple Cubic Crystal Yong Wang^#, Junjie Wang^#, Andreas Hermann, Cong Liu, Hao Gao, Erio Tosatti, Hui-Tian Wang, Dingyu Xing, Jian Sun^* Physical Review X, 2021
	Coexistence of plastic and partially diffusive phases in a helium-methane compound Hao Gao, Cong Liu, Andreas Hermann, Richard J Needs, Chris J Pickard, Hui-Tian Wang, Dingyu Xing, Jian Sun^* National Science Review, 2020 （cover letter)
	Plastic and Superionic Helium Ammonia Compounds under High Pressure and High Temperature Cong Liu, Hao Gao, Andreas Hermann, Yong Wang, Maosheng Miao, Chris J. Pickard, Richard J. Needs, Hui-Tian Wang, Dingyu Xing, Jian Sun^* Physical Review X, 2020 (Featured in Physics)
	Multiple superionic states in helium–water compounds Cong Liu^#, Hao Gao^#, Yong Wang, Richard J. Needs, Chris J. Pickard, Jian Sun^, Hui-Tian Wang^ Dingyu Xing Nature Physics, 2019 (my zero point)
	Predictions on High-Power Trivalent Metal Pentazolate Salts Kang Xia, Jianan Yuan, Xianxu Zheng, Cong Liu, Hao Gao, Qiang Wu, Jian Sun^* The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2019
	Pressure-Stabilized High-Energy-Density Alkaline-Earth-Metal Pentazolate Salts Kang Xia, Xianxu Zheng, Jianan Yuan, Cong Liu, Hao Gao, Qiang Wu, Jian Sun^* The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2019
	A novel superhard tungsten nitride predicted by machine-learning accelerated crystal structure search Kang Xia^#, Hao Gao^#, Cong Liu, Jianan Yuan, Jian Sun^, Hui-Tian Wang^, Dingyu Xing Science Bulletin, 2018 (cover letter, confirmed by experiment - Physical Review Letters, 2021 )
	Superhard and superconducting B₆C Kang Xia, Mengdong Ma, Cong Liu, Hao Gao, Qun Chen, Julong He, Jian Sun^, Hui-Tian Wang, Yongjun Tian, Dingyu Xing Materials Today Physics*, 2017