Professors

Sung Keun Lee established a research group that focuses on challenging problems in Earth Science. In particular, the members of the lab are interested in exploring the structural evolution of diverse earth materials under extreme environments (e.g.,pressure, friction, and temperature), rendering the detailed relationship between the atomic structures and relevant geological processes in planetary interiors. Specifically, his group has recently unveiled atomistic origins of mantle melting in the Earth interiors, large magnitude earthquakes, and surface processes using an arsenal of spectroscopic techniques (e.g., solid-state NMR) and synchrotron facilities, together with quantum mechanical calculations. The progress and advances have a wide range of applications in mineral physics/solid earth geophysics/geochemistry as well as condensed matter physics/physical chemistry/materials sciences.

• Ph.D., Geological and Environmental Sciences (Minor - Chemistry), Stanford University, CA, USA, 2002
• M.Eng., Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, CA, USA, 2001
• M.S., Geological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, 1997
• B.S., Geological Sciences (Minor - Materials Science and Engineering), Magna Cum Laude, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, 1994

• Professor, School of Earth and Environ. Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, 2013-
• Associate Professor (with an early tenure), School of Earth and Environ. Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, 2008-2013
• Assistant Professor, School of Earth and Environ. Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, 2004-2008
• Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellow, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC, USA, 2002-2004

1. Sung Keun Lee, Yong-Hyun Kim, Yoo Soo Yi, Paul Chow, Yuming Xiao, Cheng Ji and Guoyin Shen, (2019). Oxygen Quadclusters in SiO2 Glass above Megabar Pressures up to 160 GPa Revealed by X-Ray Raman Scattering. Physical Review Letters, 123, 235701, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.235701
2. Sung Keun Lee, Yong-Hyun Kim, Paul Chow, Yunming Xiao, Cheng Ji and Guoyin Shen, (2018). Amorphous boron oxide at megabar pressures: A view from inelastic X-ray scattering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 115(23), 5855-5860, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1800777115
3. Sung Keun Lee, Raehee Han, Eun Jeong Kim, Gi Young Jeong, Hoon Khim and Takehiro Hirose, (2017). Quasi-equilibrium melting of quartzite upon extreme friction. Nature Geoscience, 10(6), 436-441, doi: 10.1038/ngeo2951