This U.S.-Brazil Cooperative Science award supports the collaboration of Donald Ellis and J.B. Ketterson of Northwestern University and Elisa Baggio Saitovitch of the Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The project aims to conduct theoretical and experimental studies of materials with novel properties synthesized under controlled conditions on molecular beam epitaxy, e-beam, or sputter deposition on crystalline substrates. The researchers will measure properties of binary disordered metallic systems to determine the degree of ordering, magnetic structure, and transport parameters as a function of composition, growth conditions, layer thickness, and thermal treatment. They will also study heteropitaxially stabilized films to develop stable small gap semiconductors. Using self-consistent-field models based on Local Density theory in the embedded cluster framework, they will probe the electronic structure of these materials at the atomic level. Cluster calculations will be used to interpret Mossbauer, NMR, Perturbed Angular Correlation, and X-ray absorption spectroscopic data. The Brazilian side will produce specimens, characterize materials, and make spectroscopic measurements. The U.S. side will contribute expertise in hyperfine interactions and preparation of films.
