This Inter-American Materials Collaboration brings together two groups led by Giovanni Zangari at the University of Virginia and Wagner Figuereido at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil. The project focuses on studies of the electrochemical growth, structural and functional characterization of magnetic metals and selected alloys on semiconductors. The electrochemical growth of single metals on Si and III-V semiconductors with various orientations is first studied leveraging existing work by the two groups. This is followed by studies of the growth and properties of technologically relevant alloys. Electrochemical techniques and a wide array of structural and physical characterization methods are utilized to tailor growth conditions for the production of films with optimum properties. In parallel, theoretical models of the electrochemical growth of these materials are developed and theoretical parameters in the model are determined by comparison with experimental results.
This research program includes two Ph.D. students at each institution working on their own material system but interacting through the use of common methods and techniques and the need to solve similar problems. Close collaboration between the research groups is enhanced by the regular exchange of students between the two laboratories and periodical visits of the senior investigators to the foreign institution. The students are thus subject to different but integrated learning environments to which they also actively contribute. From the technical standpoint, this project provides a relevant contribution to the development of effective techniques for the direct integration of magnetic films with semiconductors, by creating useful knowledge, ready to be transferred to the industrial development and practice. This award is supported by the Division of Materials Research, the Office of International Science and Engineering, and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
