Background

Earl received his BS in geology from the University of California, Riverside, where he worked with large volume press techniques (multi anvil and piston cylinder) to investigate the diamond to graphite phase transition. In 2017, he obtained his PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz, investigating the high-pressure behavior of hydrated aluminosilicate minerals. He joined the High Pressure Physics group at LLNL as a postdoc in 2017. His research is currently focused on ultra-high-pressure diamond anvil cell techniques.

Research Interests

Earl’s research focuses on the high-pressure/temperature behavior of metals, molecular solids, and the occasional mineral with the goal of understanding the physics and chemistry of these materials. The primary tool he uses to generate high pressures and temperatures is the diamond anvil cell (DAC). He uses several experimental techniques to probe materials under high-pressure/temperature conditions such as Raman, luminescence, and infrared spectroscopy, and synchrotron-based angle-dispersive powder x-ray diffraction and single-crystal x-ray diffraction.

More recently he has been involved in developing ultra-high-pressure DAC techniques (> 400 GPa) with the goal of extending the static pressure and temperature range that is accessible with the DAC and has been involved in the development of the next generation dynamic DAC.

Ph.D., Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2017

B.S., Geology, University of California, Riverside, 2012

1. Jenei, Z., Liermann, H.P., Husband, R., Méndez, A.S.J., Pennicard, D., Marquardt, H., O’Bannon, E.F., Pakhomova, A., Konopkova, Z., Glazyrin, K., Wendt, M., Wenz, S., McBride, E.E., Morgenroth, W., Winkler, B., Rothkirch, A., Handfland, M., & Evans, W.J. (2019). New dynamic diamond anvil cells for tera-pascal per second fast compression x-ray diffraction experiments. Review of Scientific Instruments, 90, 065114.
2. O’Bannon, E.F., Jenei, Z., Cynn, H., Lipp, M.J., & Jeffries, J.R. (2018). Contributed Review: Culet diameter and the achievable pressure of a diamond anvil cell: Implications for the upper pressure limit of a diamond anvil cell. Review of Scientific Instruments, 89, 111501.
3. Jenei, Z., O’Bannon, E.F., Weir, S.T., Cynn, H., Lipp, M.J., & Evans, W.J. (2018). Single crystal toroidal diamond anvils for high pressure experiments beyond 5 megabar. Nature communications, 9, 3563.
4. O'Bannon, E.F., Beavers, C. M., Kunz, M., & Williams, Q., (2018). High-pressure study of dravite tourmaline: Insights into the accommodating nature of the tourmaline structure. American Mineralogist, 103, 1622-1633.