Newsletters

Summer 2022 Newsletter

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Important Dates

August 5, 2022 Deadline for submitting invited speaker suggestions for DMP Focus Topics through https://march.aps.org/attendees-presenters/speaker-nominations.
August 15, 2022 Abstract submission open for 2023 APS March Meeting. Submission is via the web at https://march.aps.org/attendees-presenters/abstracts.
August 31, 2022 Application deadline for the Richard L. Greene Dissertation Award in Experimental Condensed Matter or Materials Physics: https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/greene.cfm.
November 14, 2022 Application deadline for the DMP Ovshinsky Student Travel Awards and the DMP Post-Doctoral Travel Awards.
March 6 - March 10, 2022 (with tutorials on March 5): APS March Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada

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A Note from the Chair

We are currently busy organizing next year’s activities and excited to share them with you!  Your participation in nominating speakers and giving us feedback is key to the success of DMP’s activities.

Let me begin with the main event: at long last Las Vegas, Nevada is welcoming back the APS March Meeting March 6-10, 2023. The 2023 DMP program is being organized by DMP Chair-Elect, Yuri Suzuki, with help from the entire Executive Committee. As detailed in this newsletter, Yuri has assembled a strong line-up of 20 Focus Topics, covering a diverse range of contemporary topics in materials physics, including the exciting physics that arises at the intersection of materials science with topology, strong correlations, quantum information, and reduced dimensionality. We anticipate that the DMP Focus Topics will continue to attract outstanding invited and contributed talks as well as posters. You should be receiving emails from Yuri and from individual topic organizers soliciting invited talks. Your participation in nominating excellent speakers, timely work and diverse people is key for the success of Focus Topics. So, if you have not done so already, please do send in your nominations! The instructions are given later in this Newsletter.

I also urge you to discuss the Focus Topics descriptions with your students and colleagues, so that you can plan in advance about submitting your most exciting advances to relevant sessions. As you know, the March Meeting provides an excellent venue for both advancing the state of knowledge in our research areas as well as training beginning scientists in the skill sets that are so crucial for their professional development.

Besides Focus Topics, the DMP is organizing two short courses for the Sunday before the March meeting. These courses will be sponsored by DMP and heavily discounted in order to make them accessible to our community. The tutorials target early career scientists, post-docs and students, but are open to scientists at all stages of their career. The first topic is “Magnetic Topological Materials”, featuring tutorial talks by Claudia Felser (Max Planck), M. Zahid Hasan (Princeton), and Kang Wang (UCLA). The second is Techniques for Condensed Matter Physics class, featuring in-depth tutorials by five experts on different experimental techniques. We have tentatively booked Manfred Fiebig, ETH Zurich (optics); Marcelo Jaime, Los Alamos National Lab (high magnetic fields); Alan Tennant, U Tennessee (neutrons); Claudio Mazzoli, Brookhaven National Lab (X-rays) and Dennis Meier, Norwegian U. of Science and Technology (spatially resolved probes). These short courses will take place March 5 at the APS March meeting and provide meals and coffee breaks.

Another important DMP activity is the recognition of the achievements of senior and junior members of our community. I would like to thank my colleagues on the Executive Committee and members of DMP who chaired and served on selection committees for APS Fellows, the James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials, and the David Adler Lectureship in Materials Physics. They have all been hard at work over summer in selecting winners from the nominations that were made by DMP membership; the final selections will be announced by APS in late Fall. I am very grateful to the community for all their thoughtful nominations. I note that DMP and APS encourages nominations of women and members of under-represented minority groups for these prizes, awards, and fellowships.

DMP is also heavily invested in recognizing junior members of our community. You recently received the call for nominations for the Richard L. Greene Dissertation Award in Experimental Condensed Matter Materials Physics, which is due August 31st. The 2022 awardee is Yuan Cao "For pioneering discoveries of strongly correlated physics in twisted bilayer graphene." See www.aps.org/programs/honors/dissertation/greene.cfm for full details.

I would also like to remind everyone that student presenters at the March Meeting are invited to apply for a Stanford and Iris Ovshinsky Student Travel Award. Postdoctoral presenters are also invited to apply for a DMP Postdoctoral Travel Award. These highly competitive and prestigious awards are available to students and postdocs whose abstracts are submitted to DMP-sponsored contributed sessions. The awards provide travel support, and the awardees will be publicly recognized in our Reception at the March Meeting. Please watch out for emails from DMP later in Fall about the submission of nominations for these awards.

Finally, I would like to recognize the members of the DMP Executive Committee who have recently completed their service. Toni Taylor (Los Alamos National Lab) completed her four years in the chair line, while Oana Jurchescu and Judith Yang completed their terms as Members at Large. They have all selflessly given precious time and effort to better our community and their contributions have been invaluable.

I look forward to seeing everyone (hopefully in person!) at the 2023 March Meeting in Vegas!

Vivien S Zapf, DMP Chair

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The DMP Executive Committee

Chair: Vivien Zapf, Los Alamos Natl Lab (04/22 - 03/23)

Chair Elect: Yuri Suzuki, Stanford University (04/22 - 03/23)

Vice Chair: James Rondinelli, Northwestern University (04/22 - 03/23)

Past Chair: Rachel S. Goldman, University of Michigan (04/22 - 03/23)

 

Councilor: Peter Schiffer, Yale University (01/21 - 12/23)

Secretary/Treasurer: Steve May, Drexel University (04/20 - 03/23)

 

Members-at-Large: 

The Division of Materials Physics March Meeting Postdoctoral Travel Awards

To recognize innovative materials physics research by post-doctoral researchers, the Division of Materials Physics will again be sponsoring March Meeting Postdoctoral Travel Awards for those presenting at the APS March Meeting.

We anticipate that there will be up to eight Travel Awards in 2023 to support participation in DMP Focus Topic sessions at the APS March Meeting sessions. The selection will be based on the research quality, the impact of the research at the March Meeting and the innovative contribution of the postdoctoral researcher. The selection committee will consist of members of the DMP Executive Committee.

Postdoctoral researchers interested in being considered for an award must apply online. The application deadline is November 14, 2022; a link to the application site will be available on the DMP website closer to this deadline. Nominations of members belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented in physics, such as women, LGBT+ scientists, scientists who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), disabled scientists, and scientists from outside the United States are especially encouraged.

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The Division of Materials Physics Ovshinsky Student Travel Awards

The Ovshinsky Student Travel Awards were established to assist the career of student researchers. The Awards are named after Stanley and Iris Ovshinsky, who had a very strong interest in, and commitment to, scientific education. The awards have been endowed by the Ovshinsky family, their colleagues at Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) companies and all their numerous friends from many social, intellectual and business relationships.

We anticipate that there will be twenty Travel Awards given out this upcoming year to enable students to participate in the APS March Meeting sessions that are sponsored by the Division of Materials Physics. The selection will be based on merit and the selection committee will consist of members of the DMP Executive Committee.

Students interested in being considered for an award must apply online, and information can be found on the Division of Materials Physics pages under ‘Prizes and Awards’. The application deadline is November 14, 2022; a link to the application site will be available on the DMP website closer to this deadline.  Nominations of members belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented in physics, such as women, LGBT+ scientists, scientists who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), disabled scientists, and scientists from outside the United States are especially encouraged.

The recipients of the 2022 Ovshinsky Student Travel and Honorable Mention Awards as well as the 2022 Post-Doctoral Travel Awards were listed in the 2022 Winter DMP Newsletter.

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The Richard L. Greene Dissertation Award

The Richard L. Greene Dissertation Award in Experimental Condensed Matter or Materials Physics was established in 2013 to honor the scientific and administrative contributions of Richard L. Greene to experimental condensed matter and materials physics. This award recognizes doctoral thesis research of exceptional quality and importance in experimental condensed matter or experimental materials physics. The annual award consists of $3000, a certificate, travel reimbursement up to $1000, and a registration waiver to attend to give an invited talk and accept the award at APS March Meeting.

Nominations will be accepted for doctoral dissertations written in English and submitted to any college or university, worldwide. Nominees must have submitted their dissertations after January 1, two years prior to the award year. For example, if submitting a nomination for the award to be presented in 2019, the nominee must have submitted their dissertation after January 1, 2017. Nominations may be considered for up to two consecutive review cycles if they continue to meet these criteria and the nominator re-certifies the nomination before the next deadline.

More information about the award can be found at https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/greene.cfm. The application deadline is August 31, 2022.

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Nominations for DMP Officers and Executive Committee Members

The DMP Officer election will be held late in 2022 to elect a Vice-Chair, a Secretary/Treasurer, and two new at-large Executive Committee Members. According to the Bylaws, the Nominating Committee shall nominate at least two candidates for the ballot for each office. We are inviting your suggestions for candidates, which should be emailed to the DMP Past Chair, Rachel Goldman (rsgold@umich.edu) and copied to the DMP Secretary, Steve May (smay@drexel.edu) by September 16, 2022.

It is important to remember the membership of APS is diverse and global, so the Executive Committees of the APS should reflect that diversity. Nominations of women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and scientists from outside the United States are especially encouraged.

In addition, candidates can be directly nominated by petition of five percent of the membership of the Division. Such petitions must be received by the DMP Secretary/Treasurer, Steve May (smay@drexel.edu) by October 1, 2022.

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DMP Short courses for Sunday March 5, 2023 at the APS March Meeting

Techniques for Condensed Matter Physics (full day)

Manfred Fiebig, ETH Zurich (optics)
Marcelo Jaime, Los Alamos National Lab (high magnetic fields)
Alan Tennant, U Tennessee (neutron scattering techniques)
Claudio Mazzoli, Brookhaven National Lab (X-rays techniques)
Dennis Meier, Norwegian U. of Science and Technology (spatially resolved probes)

The course will feature five speakers giving interactive tutorial presentations on such topics as advanced optical spectroscopy, x-ray scattering, neutron scattering, high magnetic fields and spatially-resolved probes. The course will be interactive and geared towards early-career scientists. The speakers will introduce these advanced techniques, some of the user facilities where they are available and describe how they shape our understanding of condensed matter systems.

Tutorial on Magnetic Topological Materials (2/3 day)

Claudia Felser (Max Plank Institute),

1. Zahid Hasan (Princeton),

Kang Wang (University of California Los Angeles)

Topological phases in correlated quantum matter are currently at the forefront of condensed matter physics research. In these materials the coupling between the charge, spin, orbital and structural degrees of freedom drives a rich electronic topology, generating a range of exotic phenomena. Magnetism in particular can play a dominant role in these systems by breaking time-reversal symmetry, which forms the foundation of some topological phases and is detrimental to others. After introducing basic concepts in magnetism and topology, this tutorial will present an overview of the current topological materials including Weyl semimetals, line node semimetals, anomalous Hall/Chern insulator states, topological insulators, topological superconductors and other fascinating phases. Key phenomena emergent in these systems, including giant and/or quantized anomalous Hall effects, anomalous Nernst effects, circular photogalvanic effects and other exotic responses, will be presented. Particular emphasis will be given to kagome materials, such as the Weyl semimetal Co₃Sn₂S₂ or the Chern insulator state in TbMn₆Sn₆ and Heusler materials, such as the magnetic Weyl loop semimetal Co₂MnGa. This tutorial will further discuss exotic properties of magnetically-doped topological platforms, notably Cr:(Bi,Sb)₂Te₃, as well as heterostructures exhibiting proximity-induced magnetization, such as CrSb/(Bi,Sb)₂Te₃ bilayers. Interplay with superconductivity, charge density waves and other correlated order parameters will also be discussed.

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DMP Focus Topics for the 2023 APS March Meeting

The Division of Materials Physics is delighted to announce the program of DMP Focus Topics for the 2023 APS March Meeting (March 6 – March 10, 2023) in this Newsletter.

A Focus Topic generally consists of a series of sessions, each of which is typically seeded with one invited talk, the remainder of the session being composed of contributed presentations.

For the 2023 March Meeting, DMP is the lead organization unit on 20 different Focus Topics and is the co-sponsoring unit for an additional 14 (see lists below).

You have all received an email from Chair-elect Yuri Suzuki soliciting nominations for invited speakers for the Focus Topics sessions and may have also received an email from individual topic organizers. We count on your input for the successful development of a strong Focus Topic program with an excellent set of diverse invited speakers. So, if you have not done so already, please do send in your nominations! Your nomination will go to the organizers of the Focus Topic for which you have suggested a candidate and will aid the organizers in their selection of invited speakers.

Deadline: Aug. 5, 2022

Submission: https://march.aps.org/attendees-presenters/speaker-nominations

In suggesting speakers, please keep in mind that speakers who gave a technical invited talk at the 2022 March Meeting are ineligible. However, scientists who gave prize talks, short course and tutorial speakers can give invited talks the next year.

The membership of APS is diverse and global, and the nominees for invited talks should reflect that diversity so that all are recognized for their impact on our community. Nominations of members belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented in physics, such as women, LGBT+ scientists, scientists who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), disabled scientists, and scientists from outside the United States are especially encouraged.

Finally, note that the contents of this Newsletter will be available electronically on the DMP website at https://engage.aps.org/dmp/home. Corrections or updates will also be posted at this location.

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List of DMP-Sponsored or Co-Sponsored Focus Topics and Sorting Categories for the 2023 APS March Meeting

07.01.01: Topological Materials: Synthesis, characterization and modeling

Organizers: Jennifer Cano (Stony Brook University) jennifer.cano@stonybrook.edu; Joon Sue Lee (University of Tennessee, Knoxsville) jslee@utk.edu; Nitin Samarth (Penn State University) nxs16@psu.edu; Haidong Zhou (University of Tennessee, Knoxsville) hzhou10@utk.edu

There has been explosive growth in the field of topological materials in which band structure anomalies give rise to novel gapless states in the bulk and on the boundaries of 3-dimensional (3D), 2D, and 1D systems. Moreover, the field has expanded to include topological phases in more complex materials such as Kondo systems, magnetic and superconducting materials, and complex heterostructures capable of harboring exotic topologically nontrivial states of quantum matter. The realization of theoretical predictions and understanding of observed phenomena, however, depends greatly on sample quality. As such, there remain significant challenges in identifying and synthesizing materials that have properties amenable to the study of the bulk, thin films, surface and interface states of interest. This topic will focus on fundamental advances in the synthesis, characterization, theoretical modeling, and predictions of candidate topological materials aimed at guiding synthesis efforts. This will encompass all forms including single crystals, exfoliated and epitaxial thin films and heterostructures, and nanowires and nanoribbons. Of equal interest is the characterization of these materials using structural, transport, magnetic, optical, scanning probe, photoemission and other spectroscopic techniques, and related theoretical efforts to model key experimental observations.

07.01.02: Dirac and Weyl semimetals

Organizers: Jiun-Haw Chu (University of Washington) jhchu@uw.edu; Sumanta Tewari (Clemson University) stewari@g.clemson.edu; Na Hyun Jo (University of Michigan) nhjo@umich.edu

The field of topological semimetals has developed dramatically over the past few years. After the initial prediction and discovery of Dirac and Weyl semimetals – materials whose low energy excitations can be described by the Dirac or Weyl equation of high-energy physics – the field has now expanded to include new low-energy excitations not possible in a high-energy setting. Semimetals with different degeneracy at crossing points or lines have been predicted. Theories and experiments have been predicted and proposed in order to measure a small subset of the topological characteristics of the semimetals (such as Chern numbers). Furthermore, semimetals whose existence is guaranteed by filling constraints derived from the presence of certain orbitals at certain points in specific lattices have also been mentioned in the literature.

 

Distinct from conventional low carrier density systems, Dirac, Weyl and other semimetals are expected to possess exotic properties due to the nontrivial topologies of their electronic wave functions. A subset of the novel properties predicted include Berry phase contributions to linear and nonlinear transport properties, chiral anomaly, quantized nonlinear transport under circularly polarized light, protected Fermi arc surface states, suppressed scattering, optical control of topology, landau level spectroscopy, and superconductivity. Another exciting development is the discovery of Dirac and Weyl semimetal in ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic and charge density wave materials. The interplay between symmetry breaking phases and topological band structure leads to even richer phenomena. While promising candidate materials exist for many but certainly not all of the topological semimetals, many phenomena have yet to be clearly resolved.

This focus topic aims to explore Dirac, Weyl and other new semimetals and the novel phenomena associated with them. We solicit contributions on predictions, new materials synthesis and characterization, and new phenomena in topological semimetals both in the bulk and on the surfaces of samples that accentuate the non-trivial topological character of the new semimetals.

 

07.01.03: Topological superconductivity: materials and modeling

Organizers: John Harter (UCSB) harter@ucsb.edu; Jelena Klinovaja (University of Basel) jelena.klinovaja@unibas.ch; Chunhui Du (UCSD) c1du@physics.ucsd.edu

Topological superconductors are characterized by nontrivial topological invariants associated with the energy dispersion of Bogoliubov quasiparticles. They have been a focus of significant experimental and theoretical efforts in view of their relevance to fundamental physical and mathematical concepts as well as their potential application in quantum computation. Along with the search for bulk material candidates, there has been much recent progress in studies of thin films, artificially engineered structures, and the surfaces of bulk materials. This Focus Topic will cover topological superconductivity and the closely related areas of noncentrosymmetric and triplet superconductivity in new experimental settings involving transition metal dichalcogenides, topological insulators and semimetals, Fe-based superconductors, engineered heterostructures, semiconducting nanowires, Shiba chains, junctions with ferromagnets, quantum Hall states, and Floquet driven systems. This Focus Topic will also cover the new understanding of bulk material candidates such as Sr₂RuO₄ and UTe₂, emerging opportunities in platforms such as twisted bilayers of 2D materials, and advances in strategies for quantum information processing using topological superconductivity. 

 

07.01.04: Magnetic topological materials  [same as 10.01.09]
Organizers: Roland Kawakami (Ohio State University) kawakami.15@osu.edu; Yuriy Mokrousov (Jülich) y.mokrousov@fz-juelich.de; Charles Reichardt (Los Alamos National Lab) reichhardt@lanl.gov

The intersection of long-range magnetic order with topological electronic states is developing into an exciting area in condensed matter physics. A variety of exotic quantum states have been predicted to emerge, such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect, Weyl semimetals, and axion insulators. There are many open questions in these materials that have inspired rapid theoretical and experimental developments. For example, although the exciting phenomena listed above have been predicted, only a few experimental realizations have been found to date. However, there are several candidate materials that have been proposed or synthesized very recently, some in just the last year. This will be a focus session on theoretical predictions, experimental methods that are sensitive to the topological nature of magnetic materials, and the discovery of magnetic topological materials in single-crystal, thin film, and heterostructure morphologies.

 

08.01.02: Dopants and Defects in Semiconductors

Organizers: Elaleh Ahmadi (University of Michigan) eahmadi@umich.edu; Asif Khan (Georgia Tech) asif.khan@ece.gatech.edu; Hartwin Peelaers (University of Kansas) Peelaers@ku.edu

Defects profoundly affect electronic, optical, and other properties of semiconductors. They control charge carrier concentration, transport, and recombination rates. They also regulate mass-transport processes involved in migration, diffusion, and precipitation as well as energy level alignment and charge transfer at interfaces. The success of electronic and optoelectronic semiconductor devices has relied on the optimization of beneficial defects while mitigating unwanted ones. Understanding, characterizing, and controlling dopants and defects is essential for technologies such as light sources, detectors, power electronics, quantum devices, logic devices, memory, and solar cells. The focus of this topic is on the physics of dopants and defects in existing and emerging semiconductors, from bulk to atomic scales, encompassing point, line, and planar defects, including surfaces and interfaces. We solicit abstracts on experimental, computational, and theoretical investigations of the electronic, structural, optical, magnetic, and other properties of dopants and defects in elemental and compound semiconductors, whether in bulk crystals, polycrystals, or nanoscale structures and across applications.  We especially encourage submissions on (1) defect management in wide-band-gap materials such as diamond, group-III nitrides, and group-III oxides; (2) defects in inorganic semiconductors for photovoltaics, and (3) defects in emerging memory materials and devices such as spintronic and magnetic materials, ferroelectrics, phase change materials, resistive random-access memory devices. In addition, we welcome abstracts on relevant techniques such as materials processing and advanced characterization.

 

08.01.04: Metal Halide Perovskites – from Fundamentals to Applications 

Organizers: Joseph Berry (NREL/Colorado U Boulder) Joe.Berry@nrel.gov; Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena (Georgia Tech) jpcorrea@gatech.edu; Barry P. Rand (Princeton University) brand@princeton.edu

Metal halide perovskites have attracted significant interest from the scientific community due to their excellent optoelectronic properties and remarkable performance in optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and light-emitting diodes. While much progress has been made in understanding the fundamental physical and chemical properties of perovskites, many aspects of these materials remain under extensive debate. These include, for example, their defect physics, and the degree to which perovskites are defect tolerant. Similarly, the role of microstructure and grain boundaries remains unclear. These - and many other - open questions highlight that despite their high performance, much remains unknown about perovskite semiconductors. Recent research efforts have also been devoted to tackling some of the challenges associated with the application of perovskite materials in electronic devices, namely stability, sustainability and reproducibility. Addressing these challenges by developing suitable mitigation strategies is of key importance for the future of this technology. In this Focus Topic, we expect contributions on either experimental or modeling studies of the optical, electronic, structural and defect properties of metal halide perovskites. Advancements in materials engineering and the development of practical applications are also encouraged.

 

08.01.05: Multiferroics, magnetoelectrics, spin-electric coupling, and ferroelectrics

Organizers: Minseong Lee (Los Alamos National Laboratory) ml10k@lanl.gov; Paul Evans (U. Wisconsin-Madison) pgevans@wisc.edu; Shuai Dong (Southeast University) sdong@seu.edu.cn

This focus topic covers the challenge of coupling magnetic and electric properties in diverse materials as well as ferroelectricity in different materials classes.

Topics include:

• Ferroelectricity in inorganic and organic materials
• Bulk multiferroic and magnetoelectric oxides
• Multiferroicity and magnetoelectricity in emerging low-dimensional systems such as two-dimensional materials and van der Waals heterostructures.
• Heterostructured magnetoelectrics such as thin film, pillar and nanostructured materials.
• Metal-organic frameworks, organometallics, molecule-based materials, organic thin films and other soft materials that can exhibit magnetoelectric properties
• Spin-electric coupling in single molecule magnets
• . Coupling of spin crossovers and spin state ordering to electric and strain properties of materials
• Magnetoelectric domains and domain walls
• Magnetoelectric coupling at surfaces
• Band-filling and bandwidth control in complex oxides (a prerequisite to harnessing charge/orbital order, magnetic transitions and metal insulator transitions)
• . Other novel theoretical and experimental routes to multifunctional cross coupling of magnetic, electric and strain properties.

 

09.01.01: Fe-based Superconductors

Organizers: Hari Nair (The University of Texas at El Paso) hnair@utep.edu; Pouyan Haemi (City College of New York) pghaemi@ccny.cuny.edu; Jie Ma (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) jma3@sjtu.edu.cn; Mauro Del Ben (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) mdelben@lbl.gov

More than a decade after their discovery, Fe-based superconductors (FeSCs) continue to fascinate the materials and condensed matter physics communities, not only due to their potential to lead to higher superconducting transition temperatures, but also as a platform to investigate the complicated interaction(s) of correlated quantum matter and new techniques. Considerable synthesis, experimental, and theoretical progress has been made in elucidating the defining properties, including the role of electron-electron interactions in shaping their normal state; the intertwining between different ordered states involving spin, orbital, charge, and lattice degrees of freedom; the relevance of nematicity, magnetism, and quantum criticality to the pairing interaction; and the symmetry effects associated with the multi-orbital nature. At the same time, there is progress in understanding the unifying principles causing superconductivity and finding connections with other unconventional superconductors such as cuprates, heavy fermions and organic charge-transfer salts. In recent years, topological phenomena in the normal state and the superconducting state have been explored in the FeSCs such that these systems allow additional insights into the role of different degrees of freedom for topological phases. In addition to advancing our fundamental understanding of superconductivity and correlated electron systems, the unique material parameters of FeSCs (relatively high Tc, low anisotropy, high critical fields) offer new approaches to the design of applications such as superconducting wires, magnets and thin-film devices. This focus topic will cover the pertinent recent developments in the materials growth, experimental measurements, and theoretical approaches, and survey the potential for discovering new applications and new superconducting systems.

 

11.01.01: 4d/5d transition metal systems: Spin-orbit driven emergent phases and phenomena

Organizers: Jiaqiang Yan (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) yanj@ornl.gov; Daniel Haskel (Argonne National Laboratory) haskel@anl.gov; Jian Liu (University of Tennessee; jianliu@utk.edu)

Transition metal compounds with 4d/5d orbitals exhibit rich exotic phenomena resulting from the complex interplay between spin-orbit coupling, electron interactions, and noncubic crystal electric field. With different filling of d orbitals, a rich variety of spin-orbit-entangled states are being experimentally and theoretically investigated.  This Focus Topic explores the nature of various exotic states of such spin orbit entangled matter and how the interplay between spin orbit coupling, electron correlations, and crystal fields leads to rich novel phenomena. These include unusual magnetic phases, topological behavior, spin liquids, unconventional superconductivity and insulator-metal transitions.

Contributions are solicited in areas that reflect recent advances in synthesis, experiment, theory and simulation covering new materials in single-crystal, thin film, and heterostructure morphologies. Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

- Rhodates

- Ruthenates

- Iridates

- Osmates

- Kitaev materials

- Anomalous and topological Hall effects

- Tunability with external stimuli

 

11.01.02: Light-induced structural control of electronic phases

Organizers: Margherita Maiuri (Politecnico di Milano) margherita.maiuri@polimi.it; Matteo Mitrano (Harvard) mmitrano@g.harvard.edu; Michael Sentef (Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter) michael.sentef@mpsd.mpg.de; Jonathan Curtis (UCLA) joncurtis@ucla.edu

The electronic properties of strongly correlated materials are exceptionally sensitive to changes in their crystal structure. Small perturbations of the lattice can produce novel phases of matter emerging from the intricate interplay of competing interactions. The control of atomic geometry is hence key to understanding these materials and establishing routes to functionalize their physical states. New light sources, ultrafast probes, and the achievement of strong light-matter coupling have made it possible to induce changes in the crystal structure with light, enabling the control and examination of non-equilibrium phases in a wide range of materials. Examples range from driving electronic and structural phase transitions via the observation of phonon-dressed states to the demonstration of effects from pure vacuum fluctuations of light on the material properties in light-matter hybrids. This focus session aims to create a platform for communicating high-impact developments in the light-induced electronic and structural dynamics to a broad audience, involving theorists and experimentalists. Particular emphasis is placed on topics including ultrafast dynamics in correlated and low-dimensional materials, light-induced phase transitions, mode-selective control, and coherent and nonlinear processes. 

12.01.01: 2D Materials: Formation Pathways and Mechanisms, Heterostructures,and Defects 

Organizers: Ageeth Bol (University of Michigan) aabol@umich.edu; Stephan Hofmann (University of Cambridge) sh315@cam.ac.uk; Stephen McDonnell (University of Virginia) sjm3qf@virginia.edu

Two-dimensional (2D) materials provide unparalleled opportunities to investigate emergent electronic phases and device concepts, feeding into a plethora of future applications and technology. Their structural anisotropy provides new pathways to the controlled formation and interfacing of atomically thin crystals and layers. The underlying mechanisms remain however poorly understood, which manifests itself in limited control and scalability, in particular when it comes to integration with industrial process flows. This focus topic will concentrate on the science of scalable and controlled synthesis and tuning of 2D materials and their heterostructures, covering both experimental and computational approaches. This comprises reaction design, crystal and amorphous layer formation, phase engineering, confined growth phenomena, post-growth transformation, defect engineering (structural and chemical), in-plane and out-of-plane heterostructures, approaches to clean interfacing, 2D-3D interfacing, substrate preparation for large scale synthesis and area-select approaches.

 

12.01.02: 2D Materials: Multi-layer Moiré and Functionalities 

Organizers: Luis A Jauregui (UC Irvine) lajaure1@uci.edu; Felipe H. da Jornada (Stanford) jornada@stanford.edu; Archana Raja (Lawrence Berkely National Lab) araja@lbl.gov; Jun Xiao (Univ. Wisconsin-Madison) jun.xiao@wisc.edu

2D layered materials provide a unique platform to assemble heterostructures without the typical constraints of epitaxial interfaces, providing exciting opportunities for the discovery of emergent interfacial phenomena unique to these non-covalently bonded interfaces. Recent advances have highlighted unique electronic, optical, topological, and magnetic properties that emerge from the interfaces of bilayers involving two otherwise trivial materials. The exciting opportunities to translate these emergent properties into new functional devices require an improved understanding of interfacial device physics, including the role of strain and atomic relaxation effects in the emerging electronic and optical interfacial properties, the physics of beyond-bilayer systems, the coupling and engineering of quantum defects, the engineering of thermal coupling in heterostructures, and beyond. This focus topic will cover experimental and theoretical/computational work related to devices based on the growing array of 2D materials that exhibit a wide variety of behaviors. Our focus section invites contributions on topics including theory, computation, synthesis and device fabrication, and experimental characterization covering the wide-ranging library of 2D materials and their heterostructures.

12.01.03: 2D Materials: Advanced Characterization  [same as 10.01.10]

Organizers: Robert Hovden (University of Michigan) hovden@umich.edu; Michael Thompson Pettes (Los Alamos National Lab) pettesmt@lanl.gov

The ever-increasing class of 2D materials, with their various polymorphs, distinct electronic phases, and 2D heterostructures, require sophisticated characterization methods to both understand their emergent electronic and magnetic phases as well as establish structure-property relationships.  This focus topic will concentrate on advanced and novel characterization methods to probe structural, optical, electronic, magnetic, and other properties of 2D materials and heterostructures.  Characterization methods include, but are not limited to: advanced electron microscopy and spectroscopy (ex: 4D STEM, in situ techniques, ARPES, and momentum-resolved EELS), advanced optical microscopy and spectroscopy (nanoscale imaging, ultrafast time-resolved, non-linear), and various scanning probes, and multi-modal characterization methods.  Theory development for data interpretation, treatment of large data sets, and machine learning approaches applied to 2D material characterization are also relevant to this focus topic.

 

12.01.04: 2D Materials: Correlated states: Superconductivity, Density Waves, and Ferroelectricity 

Organizers: Salvador Barraza-Lopez (U. of Arkansas) sbarraza@uark.edu; Kai Chang (Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences) changkai@baqis.ac.cn; Yang Liu (Columbia U.) yl4456@columbia.edu

The lowered dimensionality in 2D materials breaks bulk crystalline symmetries, weakens screening effects and boosts interactions, thereby introducing novel states of matter. The interconnection between spontaneous symmetry breaking and emerging orders in low-dimensional systems, such as superconductivity, density waves, and ferroelectricity, is a fascinating topic for both fundamental physics and applications. This focus topic will cover theoretical and experimental studies of the emerging correlated states in 2D materials, including:

• Unconventional superconductivities in 2D materials, such as high-temperature superconductivity, p-wave superconductivity, Ising superconductivity, Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states, heavy fermion superconductivity, etc.
• Superconductivity tuned through the engineering of material dimensions, surfaces and interfaces
• Charge, spin and Cooper pair density waves in 2D materials
• 2D ferroelectricity/antiferroelectricity in van der Waals materials, and the tuning effects to their electronic structures
• Unconventional 2D ferroelectrics, such as ferroelectric semimetals, emerging ferroelectricity at the interface of heterostructures, and artificial multiferroics
• Phase transitions in 2D superconducting and ferroelectric materials, and the connection with density waves
• Engineering the correlated states through creating heterostructures and superlattices, including twisted junctions, Josephson junctions, ferroelectric field effect transistors, ferroelectric tunneling junctions, etc.
• Potential applications of 2D superconducting and ferroelectric materials in future electronic, mechanical, optical and energy harvesting devices.

 

12.01.05: Computational Design, Understanding and Discovery of Novel Materials

Organizers: Mauro Del Ben (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) mdelben@lbl.gov; Rodrigo Freitas (MIT) rodrigof@mit.edu; Jorge Munoz (University of Texas, El Paso) jamunoz@utep.edu; Cormac Toher (University of Texas at Dallas) Cormac.Toher@utdallas.edu

At the intersection of physics and computing, aided by machine learning, data science, high-throughput calculations, as well as ever more thorough experimental and computational materials databases, the development of predictive computational simulations to accelerate the discovery, understanding, and design of materials of fundamental and societal importance, from structural to functional, is one of the most important problems in applied science. This focus topic will cover research efforts to accelerate materials discovery and/or development by building the fundamental knowledge base and applying novel data driven approaches to design materials with specific and targeted functional properties from first principles. Abstracts are solicited in the areas of interest that include computational materials design and discovery; development of accessible and sustainable data infrastructure; development of new data analytic tools and statistical algorithms; advanced simulations of material properties in conjunction with new device functionality; data uncertainty quantification; advances in predictive modeling that leverage machine learning and data mining; algorithms for global structure and property optimizations; and computational modeling of materials synthesis. The technical applications include but are not limited to electronic and optoelectronic materials, magnetic materials and spintronics, energy conversion and storage materials (thermoelectrics, batteries, fuel cells, photocatalysts, photovoltaics, ferroelectrics), metallic alloys, phase stability including the effect of excitations and their interactions, and two-dimensional materials. Contributions that feature strong connection to experiments are of special interest.

 

13.01.01: Nanostructures and Metamaterials
Organizers: Weidong Zhou (University of Texas at Arlington) wzhou@uta.edu;  Lan Fu (Australian National University) lan.fu@anu.edu.au;

 Recent experimental, theoretical and computational advances have enabled the design and realization of micro-/nano-structured materials with novel, complex and often unusual electromagnetic properties unattainable from natural materials. Such nanostructures and metamaterials provide unique opportunities to manipulate electromagnetic radiation over a broad range of frequencies, from ultraviolet, visible, infrared to terahertz and microwave. These concepts have also been extended to enable acoustic/mechanical metamaterials, metasurfaces, and photonic crystal slabs. The transition from three-dimensional nanostructures and metamaterials to planar two-dimensional metasurfaces further facilitates structure fabrication, material integration, novel functionality, and system miniaturization, thereby finding a wide range of potential applications. This focus topic will highlight recent progress in the physical understanding, design, fabrication, and applications of these artificial materials. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: nanophotonics, plasmonics, near-field and quantum optics, optoelectronics, optofluidics, energy harvesting, reconfigurable/flexible/dynamically tunable structures, meta-structure inverse designs, and the emerging interface of condensed matter and materials physics with quantum, biological, chemical and neural sciences.

 

13.01.02: Electron, Exciton, and Phonon Transport in Nanostructures
Organizers: Andrea Alù (CUNY ASRC), aalu@gc.cuny.edu; Alexander Balandin (UC Riverside), balandin@ece.ucr.edu 

Understanding and controlling how charges, heat, and energy flow at the nanoscale is critical for realizing the potential of nanomaterials in next-generation device technologies. Of particular challenge, and opportunity is understanding how elementary excitations, such as phonons, electrons, holes, excitons, and plasmons interact with each other and are influenced by interfaces, confinement, crystal lattices, and quantum effects in nanostructures. Polaritonic phenomena emerging when these particles strongly interact and couple with each other and with incoming waves can open new opportunities for fundamental physics and new technologies. This is particularly important for heterogeneous nanoscale materials and interfaces with varying degrees of electronic and phononic coupling, and distinct thermal and electrical impedance. Structural components used in hybrid nanostructures can be made of semiconductors, metals, dielectrics, 2D materials, molecules, liquids, etc.

Contributions are solicited in areas that reflect recent advances in measurement, theory, and modeling of transport mechanisms in nanoscale materials and interfaces. Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Electron-phonon coupling and heat generation by hot charge carriers
• Dynamics of energy and charge flow in nanostructured materials
• Ultrafast dynamics of charge carriers, excitons, and phonons in nanostructures and across nanoscale interfaces
• Charge, heat, and exciton transport through metal-semiconductor interfaces, inorganic-organic interfaces, and molecular junctions
• Correlating nanoscale interface structure and chemistry with charge, heat, and exciton transport
• Non-equilibrium heat transport and phonon-bottleneck effects
• Influence of dimensionality, nanostructuring, and surface states on charge, heat, and exciton transport
• Energy transfer in hybrid nanomaterials including dots, wires, plates, polymers, etc
• Exciton diffusion and transport in nanostructured materials for light-harvesting and emission
• Nano- and meta-structures for light-harvesting, focusing, and manipulation
• Near-field heat transfer and energy conversion in nanogaps and nanodevices
• Hybrid structures with interacting exciton and plasmon resonances
• Hybrid nanomaterials for photocatalytic applications utilizing excitons and plasmons
• Polaritonic and phonon-engineered nano- and meta-structures

 

13.01.03: Complex Oxide Interfaces and Heterostructures

Organizers: Bharat Jalan (University of Minnesota) bjalan@umn.edu; Beth Nowadnick (UC Merced) enowadnick@ucmerced.edu; Nini Pryds (Technical University of Denmark) nipr@dtu.dk 

Emergent electronic and magnetic states at complex oxide interfaces raise exciting prospects for new fundamental physics and technological applications. These novel properties arise as a result of interfacial charge transfer, exchange coupling, orbital reconstructions, proximity effects, dimensionality, and mechanical and electric boundary conditions. This Focus Topic is dedicated to progress in the fabrication, methodologies, and knowledge in the field of complex oxide thin films, membranes, heterostructures, superlattices, and nanostructures. Synthesis, characterization, theory, and novel device physics are emphasized. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:  the growth of novel oxide thin films and heterostructures; creation of complex oxide membranes, the control of magnetic, electronic, ordering, ionic conduction, phase transitions, interfacial superconductivity, multiferroicity, magnetotransport, spin-orbit coupling properties; and developments in theoretical prediction and materials-by-design approaches. Advances in techniques to probe and image electronic, structural, and magnetic states at heterostructure interfaces are also emphasized. Note that some overlap may exist​ with other DMP and GMAG focus sessions. As a rule of thumb, if complex oxides and their heterostructures are at the core of the investigation, then the talk is appropriate for this focus topic.

 

13.01.04: Materials for Quantum Information Science

Organizers: Chris Ciccarino (Harvard) cciccarino@gmail.com; Stephen Jesse (Oak Ridge National Lab) sjesse@ornl.gov; Julian Klein (MIT) jpklein@mit.edu; Dominika Zigid (University of Michigan) zgid@umich.edu

Technologies for processing of information are at a cross-roads. Until now, advances in information processing have been mainly achieved by miniaturization and integration, such as scaling down transistor-based semiconductor technologies and heterogeneous integration in an architecture. These traditional methodologies are rapidly approaching their physical limits. A new class of information processing that explores possibilities beyond classical computing architectures is now underway, with particular emphasis on quantum phenomena that complement existing computing architectures. Quantum information processing (QIP), revolutionizing ways of generation, transmission, and computation of information, must be physically implemented by appropriate materials. To this end, new materials and physical properties are needed along with close collaborations among physicists, materials scientists, chemists and electrical engineers. This Focus Topic intersects the materials discovery, devices physics, and nanoscale structure communities for quantum information processing within the common theme of understanding the underlying physical interactions in materials for QIP. Given the exploratory nature of this field, contributions are solicited broadly among the following topics:

• Superconducting materials and devices
• Trapped ion systems
• Solid-state artificial atoms (quantum dots, quantum wells)
• Solid-state quantum defects (point-defects in wide-gap semiconductors, rare-earth ions)
• 2D materials and defects in 2D materials
• Topological materials
• Hybrid quantum systems
• Magnetic systems including molecular magnets and molecular spin qubits
• Optical quantum computing devices
• Biological, polymer, or inorganic materials for QIP
• First principles theory/simulations of QIP materials.

Other ideas that may be exploratory and less well defined at this time are also encouraged; however, suitable talks for this focus topic should focus on the (quantum) materials and physics germane to QIP.

19.01.06: Tools and Techniques for Exploring Materials Physics at the Frontier of Time and Length Scales 

Organizers: Roopali Kukreja (UC Davis) rkukreja@ucdavis.edu; Guangyong Xu (NIST) guangyong.xu@nist.gov; Renske van der Veen (Helmholtz-Berlin) Renske.vanderveen@helmholtz-berlin.de

The exploration of materials properties and the discovery of new materials is intimately connected with advances in tools that allow to synthesize, characterize, and model materials at fundamental length, time, and energy scales. Those scales have reached the level of atomic control, i.e. the constituents of any materials on the nanoscale, but recently, approaches to explore materials with atomic precision across multiple length, time and energy scales have gained increased interest. This includes the synthesis of multidimensional artificial materials that don’t exist in nature, materials far from equilibrium that only exist for ultrashort time scales and novel ways to characterize properties of quantum and nanosystems using unprecedented techniques. Computational efforts using high-performance tools are starting to provide essential support in this endeavor. State-of-the-art techniques using neutrons, fully coherent wave fronts at diffraction limits with electrons and photons, and novel advances with scanning probes are currently being developed and utilized by a growing community working in materials physics. This focus topic on recent advances in this important field that will provide a coherent view onto current capabilities and future perspective that are of interest to the broad materials physics community.

 

 

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