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  • Dr. Jing (Jill) Yang

Jing (Jill)
YangShe/Her

Extreme Materials

Jill Yang arrived on campus as a postdoctoral fellow in 2017 to work with Dr. Yingwei Fei on topics related to Earth’s core and then became a research technician at Earth. In 2019, she began her role as a Laboratory Engineer in the high-pressure lab at the Earth and Planets Laboratory. She uses the specialized skills she honed during her fellowship to maintain the instrumentation and labs that allow Carnegie scientists to stay at the forefront of high-pressure materials science.

She also trains incoming postdocs on how to use the equipment and helps them navigate the various machines available to them at EPL. She received her Ph.D. degree from The University of Texas at Austin.

Jill Yang Portrait

High-Pressure Research Technician
Washington, DC

  • Earth & Planets Laboratory
email Email Me phone (202) 478-8995
Abstract
Spectroscopic phase curves of hot Jupiters measure their emission spectra at multiple orbital phases, thus enabling detailed characterization of their atmospheres. Precise constraints on the atmospheric composition of these exoplanets offer insights into their formation and evolution. We analyse four phase-resolved emission spectra of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b, generated from a phase curve observed with the Mid-Infrared Instrument/Low Resolution Spectrometer onboard the JWST, to retrieve its atmospheric properties. Using a parametric 2D temperature model and assuming a chemically homogeneous atmosphere within the observed pressure region, we simultaneously fit the four spectra to constrain the abundances of atmospheric constituents, thereby yielding more precise constraints than previous work that analysed each spectrum independently. Our analysis reveals statistically significant evidence of NH3 (4 sigma) in a hot Jupiter's emission spectra for the first time, along with evidence of H2O (6.5 sigma), CO (3.1 sigma), and a non-detection of CH4. With our abundance constraints, we tentatively estimate the metallicity of WASP-43b at 0.6-6.5x solar and its C/O ratio at 0.6-0.9. Our findings offer vital insights into the atmospheric conditions and formation history of WASP-43b by simultaneously constraining the abundances of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen-bearing species.
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Abstract
Spectroscopic phase curves of hot Jupiters measure their emission spectra at multiple orbital phases, thus enabling detailed characterisation of their atmospheres. Precise constraints on the atmospheric composition of these exoplanets offer insights into their formation and evolution. We analyse four phase -resolved emission spectra of the hot Jupiter WASP -43b, generated from a phase curve observed with the MIRI/LRS onboard the JWST, , to retrieve its atmospheric properties. Using a parametric 2D temperature model and assuming a chemically homogeneous atmosphere within the observed pressure region, we simultaneously fit the four spectra to constrain the abundances of atmospheric constituents, thereby yielding more precise constraints than previous work that analysed each spectrum independently. Our analysis reveals statistically significant evidence of NH3  (4σ)  in a hot Jupiter’s emission spectra for the first time, along with evidence of H2O (6.5σ),  CO(3.1σ), and a non -detection of CH4. With our abundance constraints, we tentatively estimate the metallicity of WASP -43b at 0.6−6.5× solar and its C/O ratio at 0.6−0.9. Our findings offer vital insights into the atmospheric conditions and formation history of WASP -43b by simultaneously constraining the abundances of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen -bearing species.
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Abstract
With the advent of toroidal and double-stage diamond anvil cells (DACs), pressures between 4 and 10 Mbar can be achieved under static compression, however, the ability to explore diverse sample assemblies is limited on these micron-scale anvils. Adapting the toroidal DAC to support larger sample volumes offers expanded capabilities in physics, chemistry, and planetary science: including, characterizing materials in soft pressure media to multi-megabar pressures, synthesizing novel phases, and probing planetary assemblages at the interior pressures and temperatures of super-Earths and sub-Neptunes. Here we have continued the exploration of larger toroidal DAC profiles by iteratively testing various torus and shoulder depths with central culet diameters in the 30-50 mu m range. We present a 30 mu m culet profile that reached a maximum pressure of 414(1) GPa based on a Pt scale. The 300 K equations of state fit to our P-V data collected on gold and rhenium are compatible with extrapolated hydrostatic equations of state within 1% up to 4 Mbar. This work validates the performance of these large-culet toroidal anvils to > 4 Mbar and provides a promising foundation to develop toroidal DACs for diverse sample loading and laser heating.
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Abstract
With the advent of toroidal and double-stage diamond anvil cells (DACs), pressures between 4 and 10 Mbar can be achieved under static compression, however, the ability to explore diverse sample assemblies is limited on these micron-scale anvils. Adapting the toroidal DAC to support larger sample volumes offers expanded capabilities in physics, chemistry, and planetary science: including, characterizing materials in soft pressure media to multi-megabar pressures, synthesizing novel phases, and probing planetary assemblages at the interior pressures and temperatures of super-Earths and sub-Neptunes. Here we have continued the exploration of larger toroidal DAC profiles by iteratively testing various torus and shoulder depths with central culet diameters in the 30-50m range. We present a 30m culet profile that reached a maximum pressure of 414(1) GPa based on a Pt scale. The 300K equations of state fit to our P-V data collected on gold and rhenium are compatible with extrapolated hydrostatic equations of state within 1% up to 4 Mbar. This work validates the performance of these large-culet toroidal anvils to>4 Mbar and provides a promising foundation to develop toroidal DACs for diverse sample loading and laser heating.
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Abstract
Partitioning experiments and the chemistry of iron meteorites indicate that the light element nitrogen could be sequestered into the metallic core of rocky planets during core-mantle differentiation. The thermal conductivity and the mineralogy of the Fe-N system under core conditions could therefore influence the planetary cooling, core crystallization, and evolution of the intrinsic magnetic field of rocky planets. Limited experiments have been conducted to study the thermal properties and phase relations of Fe-N components under planetary core conditions, such as those found in the Moon, Mercury, and Ganymede. In this study, we report results from high-pressure experiments involving electrical resistivity measurements of Fe-N phases at a pressure of 5 GPa and temperatures up to 1400 K. Four Fe-N compositions, including Fe-10%N, Fe-6.4%N, Fe-2%N, and Fe-1%N (by weight percent), were prepared and subjected to recovery experiments at 5 GPa and 1273 K. These experiments show that Fe-10%N and Fe-6.4%N form a single hexagonal close-packed phase (epsilon-nitrides), while Fe-2%N and Fe-1%N exhibit a face-centered cubic structure (gamma-Fe). In separate experiments, the resistivity data were collected during the cooling after compressing the starting materials to 5 GPa and heating to similar to 1400 K. The resistivity of all compositions, similar to the pure gamma-Fe, exhibits weak temperature dependence. We found that N has a strong effect on the resistivity of metallic Fe under rocky planetary core conditions compared to other potential light elements such as Si. The temperature-dependence of the resistivity also revealed high-pressure phase transition points in the Fe-N system. A congruent reaction, epsilon reversible arrow gamma', occurs at similar to 673 K in Fe-6.4%N, which is similar to 280 K lower than that at ambient pressure. Furthermore, the resistivity data provided constraints on the high-pressure phase boundary of the polymorphic transition, gamma reversible arrow alpha, and an eutectoid equilibrium of gamma' reversible arrow alpha + epsilon. The data, along with the recently reported phase equilibrium experiments at high pressures, enable construction of a phase diagram of the Fe-N binary system at 5 GPa.
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Jill Yang poses with DAC on campus

Q&A with Jill Yang

Our top-tier instrumentation makes it one of the best places in the world to study materials under pressure. Jill Yang is in charge of making those machines work—and she takes her job seriously!

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