Research Focus
Structure of silicate glasses and melts
I work on the atomic scale structure of silicate melts at ambient and high pressure, and its relation to dynamical properties such as viscosity. The tools I use are diamond anvil cells (DACs), vibrational and X-ray spectroscopy techniques, ab initio molecular dynamics and soon also machine learning potentials.
CV
Academic Education
- Promotion am GFZ Helmholtz-Zentrum für Geoforschung
External Functions
- DGG - Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft (Mitglied)
- Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft (Mitglied)
Projects
- Structure of silicate glasses and melts ()
Own Resources Project - Construction of the laboratory for measurements of thermal conductivity under extreme pressure and temperature ()
Own Resources Project - Searching for crystal structures with low or negative linear or volumetric negative thermal expansion ()
Own Resources Project
Research Articles (Journals)
- Spiekermann, Georg, and Schulze, Maximilian. . “The predominance of SiO5 species in MgSiO3 melt at transition zone pressures from a dynamics point of view.” Preprint. Chemical Geology 702 123194. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2025.123194.
- Sahle, J.Christoph, Petitgirard, Sylvain, Spiekermann, Georg, Sakrowski, Robin, Suomalainen, Noora, Gerbon, Florent, Jacobs, Jeroen, Watier, Yves, Sternemann, Christian, Sala, Moretti Marco, and Cerantola, Valerio. . “ID20 – opportunities for inelastic X-ray scattering at extreme conditions.” Preprint. High Pressure Research 44. doi: 10.1080/08957959.2024.2356523.
- Libon, Lélia, Spiekermann, Georg, Blanchard, Ingrid, Kaa, M.Johannes, Dominijanni, Serena, Sieber, J.Melanie, Förster, Mirko, Albers, Christian, Morgenroth, Wolfgang, McCammon, Catherine, Schreiber, Anja, Roddatis, Vladimir, Glazyrin, Konstantin, Husband, J.Rachel, Hennet, Louis, Appel, Karen, and Wilke, Max. . “Reevaluating the fate of subducted magnesite in the Earth's lower mantle.” Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 355. doi: 10.1016/j.pepi.2024.107238.
- Schulze, Maximilian, and Spiekermann, Georg. . “Fivefold‐Coordinated Silicon in MgSiO3 Melt Accommodates Viscous Flow up to Transition Zone Pressures.” Geophysical Research Letters 50. doi: 10.1029/2023gl105750.
- Spiekermann, G., Sahle, J.Ch., Niskanen, J., Gilmore, K., Petitgirard, S., Sternemann, C., Tse, S.J., and Murakami, M. . “Sensitivity of the Kβ″ X-ray Emission Line to Coordination Changes in GeO2 and TiO2.” Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 14. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c00017.
- Krzemnicki, S.Michael, Lefèvre, Pierre, Zhou, Wei, Braun, Judith, and Spiekermann, Georg. . “Dehydration of Diaspore and Goethite during Low-Temperature Heating as Criterion to Separate Unheated from Heated Rubies and Sapphires.” Minerals 13. doi: 10.3390/min13121557.
- Ball, B.O., Prescher, C., Appel, K., Baehtz, C., Baron, A.M., Briggs, R., Cerantola, V., Chantel, J., Chariton, S., Coleman, L.A., Cynn, H., Damker, H., Dattelbaum, D., Dresselhaus-Marais, E.L., Eggert, H.J., Ehm, L., Evans, J.W., Fiquet, G., Frost, M., Glazyrin, K., Goncharov, F.A., Husband, J.R., Hwang, H., Jaisle, N., Jenei, Zs., Kim, J.-Y., Lee, Y., Liermann, P.H., Mainberger, J., Makita, M., Marquardt, H., McBride, E.E., McHardy, D.J., McMahon, I.M., Merkel, S., Morard, G., O’Bannon, F.E., Otzen, C., Pace, J.E., Pelka, A., Pépin, M.C., Pigott, S.J., Plückthun, C., Prakapenka, B.V., Redmer, R., Speziale, S., Spiekermann, G., Strohm, C., Sturtevant, T.B., Talkovski, P., and Wollenweber, L. . “Dynamic optical spectroscopy and pyrometry of static targets under optical and x-ray laser heating at the European XFEL.” Journal of Applied Physics 134. doi: 10.1063/5.0142196.
- Kaa, M.Johannes, Konôpková, Zuzana, Preston, R.Thomas, Cerantola, Valerio, Sahle, J.Christoph, Förster, Mirko, Albers, Christian, Libon, Lélia, Sakrowski, Robin, Wollenweber, Lennart, Buakor, Khachiwan, Dwivedi, Anand, Mishchenko, Mikhail, Nakatsutsumi, Motoaki, Plückthun, Christian, Schwinkendorf, Jan-Patrick, Spiekermann, Georg, Thiering, Nicola, Petitgirard, Sylvain, Tolan, Metin, Wilke, Max, Zastrau, Ulf, Appel, Karen, and Sternemann, Christian. . “A von Hámos spectrometer for diamond anvil cell experiments at the High Energy Density Instrument of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser.” Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 30. doi: 10.1107/s1600577523003041.
- Albers, Christian, Sakrowski, Robin, Thiering, Nicola, Libon, Lélia, Spiekermann, Georg, Kaa, M.Johannes, Gretarsson, Hlynur, Sundermann, Martin, Tolan, Metin, Wilke, Max, and Sternemann, Christian. . “High-efficiency X-ray emission spectroscopy of cold-compressed Fe2O3 and laser-heated pressurized FeCO3 using a von Hámos spectrometer.” Preprint. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 38. doi: 10.1039/D3JA00014A.
- Allaz, M.Julien, Guillong, Marcel, Tavazzani, Lorenzo, Spiekermann, Georg, Zehnder, Lydia, Bullock, Emma, DesOrmeau, Joel, Jercinovic, J.Michael, Krause, Joachim, Marxer, Felix, Nachlas, O.William, and Spratt, John. . “A New Albite Microanalytical Reference Material from Piz Beverin for Na, Al and Si Determination, and the Potential for New K‐Feldspar Reference Materials.” Preprint. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 47. doi: 10.1111/ggr.12515.
- Sahle, J.Ch., Gerbon, F., Henriquet, C., Verbeni, R., Detlefs, B., Longo, A., Mirone, A., Lagier, M.-C., Otte, F., Spiekermann, G., and Petitgirard, S. . “A compact von Hámos spectrometer for parallel X-ray Raman scattering and X-ray emission spectroscopy at ID20 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.” Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 30. doi: 10.1107/s1600577522011171.
- Albers, C, Sakrowski, R, Libon, L, Spiekermann, G, Winkler, B, Schmidt, C, Bayarjargal, L, Cerantola, V, Chariton, S, Giordano, N, Gretarsson, H, Kaa, J, Liermann, H, Sundermann, M, Thiering, N, Tolan, M, Wilke, M, and Sternemann, C. . “Fe3+ -hosting carbon phases in the deep Earth.” Preprint. Physical Review B 105. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.105.085155.
- Kaa, M.Johannes, Sternemann, Christian, Appel, Karen, Cerantola, Valerio, Preston, R.Thomas, Albers, Christian, Elbers, Mirko, Libon, Lélia, Makita, Mikako, Pelka, Alexander, Petitgirard, Sylvain, Plückthun, Christian, Roddatis, Vladimir, Sahle, J.Christoph, Spiekermann, Georg, Schmidt, Christian, Schreiber, Anja, Sakrowski, Robin, Tolan, Metin, Wilke, Max, Zastrau, Ulf, and Konôpková, Zuzana. . “Structural and electron spin state changes in an x-ray heated iron carbonate system at the Earth's lower mantle pressures.” Physical Review Research 4. doi: 10.1103/physrevresearch.4.033042.
- Petitgirard, Sylvain, Sahle, J.Christoph, Malfait, J.Wim, Spiekermann, Georg, Blanchard, Ingrid, Jennings, S.Eleanor, Cotte, Marine, and Murakami, Motohiko. . “Anomalous density, sound velocity, and structure of pressure-induced amorphous quartz.” Preprint. Physical Review B 105. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.105.134106.
- Spiekermann, G, Libon, L, Albers, C, Sakrowski, R, Petitgirard, S, Sahle, CJ, Sundermann, M, Gretarsson, H, Sergueev, I, Sternemann, C, Wilke, M, and Murakami, M. . “Reflective imaging, on-axis laser heating and radiospectrometry of samples in diamond anvil cells with a parabolic mirror.” High Pressure Research 41: 142–154. doi: 10.1080/08957959.2021.1921173.
- Liermann, P.H., Konôpková, Z., Appel, K., Prescher, C., Schropp, A., Cerantola, V., Husband, J.R., McHardy, D.J., McMahon, I.M., McWilliams, S.R., Pépin, M.C., Mainberger, J., Roeper, M., Berghäuser, A., Damker, H., Talkovski, P., Foese, M., Kujala, N., Ball, B.O., Baron, A.M., Briggs, R., Bykov, M., Bykova, E., Chantel, J., Coleman, L.A., Cynn, H., Dattelbaum, D., Dresselhaus-Marais, E.L., Eggert, H.J., Ehm, L., Evans, J.W., Fiquet, G., Frost, M., Glazyrin, K., Goncharov, F.A., Hwang, H., Jenei, Zs., Kim, J.-Y., Langenhorst, F., Lee, Y., Makita, M., Marquardt, H., McBride, E.E., Merkel, S., Morard, G., O'Bannon, F.E., Otzen, C., Pace, J.E., Pelka, A., Pigott, S.J., and Prakapenka, B.V. . “Novel experimental setup for megahertz X-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell at the High Energy Density (HED) instrument of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (EuXFEL).” Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 28. doi: 10.1107/s1600577521002551.
- Hwang, Huijeong, Kim, Taehyun, Cynn, Hyunchae, Vogt, Thomas, Husband, J.Rachel, Appel, Karen, Baehtz, Carsten, Ball, B.Orianna, Baron, A.Marzena, Briggs, Richard, Bykov, Maxim, Bykova, Elena, Cerantola, Valerio, Chantel, Julien, Coleman, L.Amy, Dattlebaum, Dana, Dresselhaus-Marais, E.Leora, Eggert, H.Jon, Ehm, Lars, Evans, J.William, Fiquet, Guillaume, Frost, Mungo, Glazyrin, Konstantin, Goncharov, F.Alexander, Jenei, Zsolt, Kim, Jaeyong, Konôpková, Zuzana, Mainberger, Jona, Makita, Mikako, Marquardt, Hauke, McBride, E.Emma, McHardy, D.James, Merkel, Sébastien, Morard, Guillaume, O’Bannon, F.Earl, Otzen, Christoph, Pace, J.Edward, Pelka, Alexander, Pépin, M.Charles, Pigott, S.Jeffrey, Prakapenka, B.Vitali, Prescher, Clemens, Redmer, Ronald, Speziale, Sergio, Spiekermann, Georg, Strohm, Cornelius, Sturtevant, T.Blake, Velisavljevic, Nenad, Wilke, Max, Yoo, Choong-Shik, and Zastrau, Ulf. . “X-ray Free Electron Laser-Induced Synthesis of ε-Iron Nitride at High Pressures.” Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 12. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c00150.
- Mergner, V., Kupenko, I., Spiekermann, G., Petitgirard, S., Libon, L., Chariton, S., Krug, M., Steinbrügge, R., Sergueev, I., and Sanchez-Valle, C. . “Sound Velocities in FeSi at Lower Mantle Conditions and the Origin of Ultralow‐Velocity Zones.” Geophysical Research Letters 48 (14). doi: 10.1029/2020GL092257.
- Sublett, Matthew D., Sendula, Eszter, Lamadrid, M.Hector, Steele‐MacInnis, Matthew, Spiekermann, Georg, and Bodnar, J.Robert. . “Raman spectral behavior of N2, CO2, and CH4 in N2–CO2–CH4 gas mixtures from 22°C to 200°C and 10 to 500 bars, with application to other gas mixtures.” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 52. doi: 10.1002/jrs.6033.
- Krstulović, Marija, Rosa, D.Angelika, Biedermann, Nicole, Spiekermann, Georg, Irifune, Tetsuo, Muñoz, Manuel, and Wilke, Max. . “Ge coordination inNaAlGe3O8glass upon compression to 131 GPa.” Physical Review B 101. doi: 10.1103/physrevb.101.214103.
- Biedermann, Nicole, Bykova, Elena, Morgenroth, Wolfgang, Efthimiopoulos, Ilias, Mueller, Jan, Spiekermann, Georg, Glazyrin, Konstantin, Pakhomova, Anna, Appel, Karen, and Wilke, Max. . “Equation of state and high-pressure phase behaviour of SrCO3.” European Journal of Mineralogy 32. doi: 10.5194/ejm-32-575-2020.
- Diaz-Lopez, Maria, Cutts, L.Geoffrey, Allan, K.Phoebe, Keeble, S.Dean, Ross, Allan, Pralong, Valerie, Spiekermann, Georg, and Chater, A.Philip. . “Fast <i>operando</i> X-ray pair distribution function using the DRIX electrochemical cell.” Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 27. doi: 10.1107/s160057752000747x.
- Spiekermann, Georg, Kupenko, Ilya, Petitgirard, Sylvain, Harder, Manuel, Nyrow, Alexander, Weis, Christopher, Albers, Christian, Biedermann, Nicole, Libon, Lélia, Sahle, J.Christoph, Cerantola, Valerio, Glazyrin, Konstantin, Konôpková, Zuzana, Sinmyo, Ryosuke, Morgenroth, Wolfgang, Sergueev, Ilya, Yavaş, Hasan, Dubrovinsky, Leonid, Tolan, Metin, Sternemann, Christian, and Wilke, Max. . “A portable on-axis laser-heating system for near-90° X-ray spectroscopy: application to ferropericlase and iron silicide.” Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 27. doi: 10.1107/s1600577519017041.
- Sublett, Matthew D., Sendula, Eszter, Lamadrid, Hector, Steele‐MacInnis, Matthew, Spiekermann, Georg, Burruss, C.Robert, and Bodnar, J.Robert. . “Shift in the Raman symmetric stretching band of N2, CO2, and CH4 as a function of temperature, pressure, and density.” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 51. doi: 10.1002/jrs.5805.
- Spiekermann, G., Harder, M., Gilmore, K., Zalden, P., Sahle, Ch. J., Petitgirard, S., Wilke, M., Biedermann, N., Weis, C., Morgenroth, W., Tse, J. S., Kulik, E., Nishiyama, N., Yavaş, H., and Sternemann, C. . “Persistent Octahedral Coordination in Amorphous GeO2 Up to 100 GPa by Kβ′′ X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy.” Physical Review X 9. doi: 10.1103/physrevx.9.011025.
- Petitgirard, Sylvain, Spiekermann, Georg, Glazyrin, Konstantin, Garrevoet, Jan, and Murakami, Motohiko. . “Density of amorphous GeO2 to 133 GPa with possible pyritelike structure and stiffness at high pressure.” Physical Review B 100. doi: 10.1103/physrevb.100.214104.
- Weis, Christopher, Spiekermann, Georg, Sternemann, Christian, Harder, Manuel, Vankó, György, Cerantola, Valerio, Sahle, J.Christoph, Forov, Yury, Sakrowski, Robin, Kupenko, Ilya, Petitgirard, Sylvain, Yavaş, Hasan, Bressler, Christian, Gawelda, Wojciech, Tolan, Metin, and Wilke, Max. . “Combining X-ray Kβ1,3, valence-to-core, and X-ray Raman spectroscopy for studying Earth materials at high pressure and temperature: the case of siderite.” Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 34. doi: 10.1039/c8ja00247a.
- Petitgirard, S., Sahle, C.J., Weis, C., Gilmore, K., Spiekermann, G., Tse, J.S., Wilke, M., Cavallari, C., Cerantola, V., and Sternemann, C. . “Magma properties at deep Earth’s conditions from electronic structure of silica.” Geochemical Perspectives Letters 9. doi: 10.7185/geochemlet.1902.
- Ketenoglu, Didem, Spiekermann, Georg, Harder, Manuel, Oz, Erdinc, Koz, Cevriye, Yagci, C.Mehmet, Yilmaz, Eda, Yin, Zhong, Sahle, J.Christoph, Detlefs, Blanka, and Yavaş, Hasan. . “X-ray Raman spectroscopy of lithium-ion battery electrolyte solutions in a flow cell.” Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 25. doi: 10.1107/s1600577518001662.
- Weis, Christopher, Sternemann, Christian, Cerantola, Valerio, Sahle, J.Christoph, Spiekermann, Georg, Harder, Manuel, Forov, Yury, Kononov, Alexander, Sakrowski, Robin, Yavaş, Hasan, Tolan, Metin, and Wilke, Max. . “Pressure driven spin transition in siderite and magnesiosiderite single crystals.” Scientific Reports 7. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-16733-3.
- Sahle, J.Ch., Rosa, D.A., Rossi, M., Cerantola, V., Spiekermann, G., Petitgirard, S., Jacobs, J., Huotari, S., Sala, Moretti M., and Mirone, A. . “Direct tomography imaging for inelastic X-ray scattering experiments at high pressure.” Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 24. doi: 10.1107/s1600577516017100.
- Petitgirard, Sylvain, Spiekermann, Georg, Weis, Christopher, Sahle, Christoph, Sternemann, Christian, and Wilke, Max. . “Miniature diamond anvils for X-ray Raman scattering spectroscopy experiments at high pressure.” Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 24. doi: 10.1107/s1600577516017112.
- Nyrow, Alexander, Sternemann, Christian, Tse, S.John, Weis, Christopher, Sahle, J.Christoph, Mende, Kolja, Wieland, Florian C. D., Cerantola, Valerio, Gordon, A.Robert, Spiekermann, Georg, Regier, Tom, Wilke, Max, and Tolan, Metin. . “Bulk sensitive determination of the Fe3+/FeTot-ratio in minerals by Fe L2/3-edge X-ray Raman scattering.” Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 31. doi: 10.1039/c5ja00261c.
- Sahle, J.Christoph, Sternemann, Christian, Giacobbe, Carlotta, Yan, Yigang, Weis, Christopher, Harder, Manuel, Forov, Yury, Spiekermann, Georg, Tolan, Metin, Krisch, Michael, and Remhof, Arndt. . “Formation of CaB6in the thermal decomposition of the hydrogen storage material Ca(BH4)2.” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 18. doi: 10.1039/c6cp02495e.
- Spiekermann, Georg, Wilke, Max, and Jahn, Sandro. . “Structural and dynamical properties of supercritical H2O–SiO2 fluids studied by ab initio molecular dynamics.” Chemical Geology 426. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.01.010.
- Zitterbart, P.Daniel, Richter, Sebastian, Spiekermann, Georg, Behrens, K.Lisa, Regnery, Julia, Fontes, P.René, Hänssler, Thedda, König-Langlo, Gert, Weller, Rolf, and Fabry, Ben. . “Are environmental factors responsible for changed breeding behaviour in emperor penguins?” Antarctic Science 26. doi: 10.1017/s0954102014000285.
- Spiekermann, Georg, Steele-MacInnis, Matthew, Kowalski, M.Piotr, Schmidt, Christian, and Jahn, Sandro. . “Vibrational properties of silica species in MgO–SiO2 glasses obtained from ab initio molecular dynamics.” Chemical Geology 346. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2012.08.020.
- Spiekermann, Georg, Steele-MacInnis, Matthew, Kowalski, M.Piotr, Schmidt, Christian, and Jahn, Sandro. . “Vibrational mode frequencies of H4SiO4, D4SiO4, H6Si2O7, and H6Si3O9 in aqueous environment, obtained from <i>ab initio</i> molecular dynamics.” Journal of Chemical Physics 137. doi: 10.1063/1.4761824.
- Spiekermann, Georg Steele-MacInnis Matthew, and Schmidt, Christian Jahn Sandro. . “Vibrational mode frequencies of silica species in SiO2-H2O liquids and glasses from <i>ab initio</i> molecular dynamics.” Journal of Chemical Physics 136. doi: 10.1063/1.3703667.