Collaborative Research: DMREF: Discovery of novel magnetic materials through pseudospin control

合作研究：DMREF：通过赝自旋控制发现新型磁性材料

• 批准号: 2323858
• 负责人: Lian Li
• 金额: $ 97.86万
• 依托单位: West Virginia University Research Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2027-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2323858&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; DMREF; Discovery; novel

Non-technical Description: Materials discovery requires new tools that enable design principles. The properties of many technologically relevant materials, such as perfect conductivity in superconductors and electric current control of magnets, arise from the spin of electrons. This project will use pseudospin - a quantum mechanical degree of freedom analogous to electron spin - as a new tool for materials discovery. The research will follow the collaborative and iterative closed-loop Materials Genome Initiative approach by combining analytic and predictive computational theory, together with epitaxial growth of materials one atomic layer at a time, and characterization using advanced microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. This project will develop new guiding principles based on controlling pseudospin in materials design, a paradigm shift in quantum materials discovery that will enable both superconductors that can sustain high magnetic fields and novel magnets. This activity will provide training for the next-generation quantum workforce. Technical Description: This project aims to develop pseudospin control as a materials design tool for discovering new magnetic states and superconductivity. The concept of pseudospin derives from the two-fold Kramers degeneracy of Bloch electrons when time-reversal and inversion symmetries are present. Normally, pseudospin behaves as spin-1/2 under rotations, driving much of our understanding of Cooper pairing in superconductors, Stoner ferromagnetism, and spin control by Zeeman fields. However, for crystals with non-symmorphic space group symmetry, pseudospin can behave very differently than normal spin-1/2. This can lead to novel magnetic states, including altermagnets and odd-parity multipole magnets, and qualitatively alter the superconducting response to magnetic fields. This project will initially develop a new and comprehensive theory of this novel pseudospin. Then density functional calculations will be used to guide the search for materials with desirable properties driven by non-spin-1/2 pseudospin, including high-field superconductors and novel magnets. Thin films of candidate materials will be grown by molecular beam epitaxy on various perovskite oxide substrates, which offer tunability of magnetic and superconducting properties by tailoring lattice strain, proximity effects, charge doping, and electric and optical gating. The experimental demonstration of, for example, crystal Hall effects in altermagnets and the nonlinear Hall effect in odd-parity magnets will provide both a means to validate the theoretical predictions and a path to synthesize new magnetic phases.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

非技术描述：材料发现需要支持设计原理的新工具。许多技术相关材料的特性，例如超导体的完美导电性和磁体的电流控制，都是由电子自旋产生的。 该项目将使用赝自旋（一种类似于电子自旋的量子力学自由度）作为材料发现的新工具。 该研究将遵循协作和迭代闭环材料基因组计划方法，将分析和预测计算理论与一次一个原子层的材料外延生长相结合，并使用先进的显微镜和光谱技术进行表征。该项目将开发基于控制材料设计中赝自旋的新指导原则，这是量子材料发现的范式转变，将使超导体能够维持高磁场和新型磁体。这项活动将为下一代量子劳动力提供培训。技术描述：该项目旨在开发赝自旋控制作为发现新磁态和超导性的材料设计工具。赝自旋的概念源自当存在时间反转和反演对称性时布洛赫电子的两倍克莱默简并性。通常，赝自旋在旋转下表现为 1/2 自旋，这推动了我们对超导体中的库珀配对、斯通纳铁磁性和塞曼场的自旋控制的大部分理解。然而，对于具有非对称空间群对称性的晶体，赝自旋的行为可能与正常自旋 1/2 非常不同。这可以产生新的磁态，包括交替磁体和奇宇称多极磁体，并定性地改变对磁场的超导响应。该项目将首先针对这种新颖的赝自旋发展一种新的综合理论。然后，密度泛函计算将用于指导寻找由非自旋 1/2 赝自旋驱动的具有所需特性的材料，包括高场超导体和新型磁体。候选材料的薄膜将通过分子束外延在各种钙钛矿氧化物基底上生长，通过调整晶格应变、邻近效应、电荷掺杂以及电和光选通来提供磁性和超导特性的可调性。例如，交流磁体中的晶体霍尔效应和奇偶校验磁体中的非线性霍尔效应的实验演示将提供验证理论预测的方法和合成新磁相的途径。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并具有通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。