Dr. Ralf Dohmen
Research Scientist
Pulsed Laser Deposition Laboratory Manager

Dr. Ralf Dohmen (Dr. rer. Nat. 1999, Köln, Germany)
E-Mail - ralf.dohmen@rub.de
Tel.: +49 234 32-24394
Raum: IA 4/113
Research Interests
Experimental and theoretical petrology. My research interest covers various different topics within theoretical and experimental petrology where diffusion or diffusion-controlled processes are involved. It comprises theoretical modeling as well as experiments to understand and quantify the reaction kinetics of multi-phase systems or simply to measure diffusion coefficients for various applications, e.g., mineral rheology or diffusion chronometry.
Some of my current projects are:
- Pulsed Laser Deposition of silicate thin films and its application to volume and grain boundary diffusion experiments
- Experimental investigation and modeling of diffusive fractionation of isotopes and elements
- Thermodynamic modeling of element partitioning between plagioclase and melt
- Experimental and theoretical studies of diffusion and partitioning behavior of Li in olivine
- Diffusion modeling of chemical zoning in primitive meteorites to extract cooling rates and identify oxidation events in the solar nebula
- Modeling of chemical zoning in phenocrysts to determine time scales of magma recharging events
Current scientific collaborations:
International
- Katharina Marquardt, Imperial College London, Department of Materials, London, UK
- Paul Baral, Michaël Coulombier, Hosni Idrissi, Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC), Louvain‐la‐Neuve, Belgium
- Patrick Cordier, Univ. Lille, Unité Matériaux et Transformations, France
- Corentin Le Guillou, Unité Matériaux et Transformations, Université de Lille, France
National
- Tomoo Katsura, Hongzhan Fei, Lin Wang, Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Bayreuth
- Horst Marschall, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Frankfurt
- Harald Behrens, Martin Oeser, Stefan Weyer, Institut für Mineralogie, Universität Hannover
Publication List
Selected recent publications
Baral, P., Orekhov, A, Dohmen, R, Coulombier, M, Raskin, JP, Cordier, P, Idrissi, H, Pardoen, T (2021) Rheology of amorphous olivine thin films characterized by nanoindentation. Acta Materialia, 219, Article Number 117257, DOI 10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117257
Polednia, J, Dohmen, R, Marquardt, K (2020) Grain boundary diffusion and its relation to segregation of multiple elements in yttrium aluminum garnet. Eur J Mineral 32, 675-696 DOI 10.5194/ejm-32-675-2020
Dohmen R, Marschall HR, Ludwig T, Polednia J (2019) Diffusion of Zr, Hf, Nb and Ta in rutile: effects of temperature, oxygen fugacity, and doping level, and relation to rutile point defect chemistry. Phys. Chem. Minerals, 46, 311-332
Ellis BS, Szymanowski D, Magna T, Neukampf J, Dohmen, R, Bachmann, O, Ulmer P, Guillong M (2018) Post-eruptive mobility of lithium in volcanic rocks. Nature Communications 9, Article Number 3228, DOI10.1038/s41467-018-05688-2
Dohmen R, Faak K, Blundy JD (2017) Chronometry and Speedometry of Magmatic Processes using Chemical Diffusion in Olivine, Plagioclase and Pyroxenes. Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry, 83, 535-575
Dohmen R, Ter Heege J, Becker H-W, Chakraborty S (2016) Fe-Mg interdiffusion in orthopyroxene. Am Mineral 101, 2210-2221.
Jonas L, Mueller T, Dohmen R, Baumgartner L, Putlitz B (2015) Transport-controlled hydrothermal replacement of calcite by Mg-carbonates. Geology 43, 779-782.
Oeser M, Dohmen R, Horn I, Schuth S, Weyer S (2015) Processes and time scales of magmatic evolution as revealed by Fe-Mg chemical and isotopic zoning in natural olivines. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 154, 130-150.
Le Guillou C, Dohmen R, Rogalla D, Mueller T, Vollmer C, Becker H-W (2015) New experimental approach to study aqueous alteration of amorphous silicates at low reaction rates. Chem. Geol. 412, 179–192.
von Strandmann PAEP, Dohmen R, Marschall HR, Schumacher JC, Elliott T (2015) Extreme Magnesium Isotope Fractionation at Outcrop Scale Records the Mechanism and Rate at which Reaction Fronts Advance. J. Petrol. 56, 33-58.
Dohmen R, Blundy J (2014) A predictive thermodynamic model for element partitioning between plagioclase and melt as a function of pressure, temperature and composition. Am. J. Sci., 314, 1319-1372.
Marschall HR, Dohmen R, Ludwig T (2013) Diffusion-induced fractionation of niobium and tantalum during continental crust formation. Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett. 375, 361-371.
Saunders K, Blundy J, Dohmen R, Cashman K (2012) Linking petrology and seismology at an active volcano. Science 336, 1023-1027.
Dohmen R, Milke R (2010) Diffusion in Polycrystalline Materials: Grain Boundaries, Mathematical Models, and Experimental Data. In: Diffusion in Minerals and Melts. Rev. Mineral. Geochem. 72, 921-970.
Dohmen R, Kasemann S, Coogan L, Chakraborty S. (2010) Diffusion of Li in olivine. Part I: Experimental observations and a multi species diffusion model. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 74, 274-292.
Dohmen R, Chakraborty S (2007) Fe-Mg diffusion in olivine II: Point defect chemistry, diffusion mechanisms and a model for calculation of diffusion coefficients in natural olivine. Phys Chem Minerals 34, 409–430.
Teaching
Wintersemester
- 176305 Polarisationsmikroskopie I
BSc-Level (3. Semester): Dohmen - 176504 Polarisationsmikroskopie II
BSc-Level (5. Semester): Dohmen
Sommersemester
- 176107 Sicherheit in Gelände und Labor
Chakraborty, Sumit; Fockenberg, Thomas; Schuth, Stephan; Dohmen, Ralf; Duda, Mandy
Education
- 1999 – Dr. rer. nat. Degree, University of Cologne
Dissertation: Gas phase as a mediator for solid-solid reactions: Knudsen cell mass spectrometry experiments and a thermodynamic kinetic modelling - 1996 – Physics Diploma, University of Cologne
Thesis: Development of a computer control of a Knudsen cell mass spectrometer to investigate element fractionations in the Solar Nebula
Positions held
- 04/2010 - present: Research Associate
Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Geophysics, Ruhr-University Bochum - 02/2009 - 03/2010: Research Associate
Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, United Kingdom - 12/1999 - 01/2009: Research Associate
Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Geophysics, Ruhr-University Bochum - 02/1996 - 10/1999: Research Assistant
Institute for Mineralogy and Geochemistry, University to Cologne
Academic honours
- 1999
Best Paper published in 1998 in American Mineralogist award, Mineralogical Society of America