Major technological advances over the last half-century have been fueled by the development of a fundamental understanding of materials. Transistors, computers, and solid state memory devices are based on relatively simple solid state systems like silicon whose electronic properties are controlled at the atomic level. More complex materials such as high temperature superconductors hold tremendous potential for new technologies in the future, yet in order to make progress we must understand and control the strong interactions between the electrons in these systems. Indeed, one grand challenge of modern physics is a fundamental understanding of the unexpected behavior and phenomena that emerge in new materials with strong electronic interactions. A key aspect of these phenomena is that the electron density becomes spatially dependent at a microscopic length scale (nanoscale). This individual investigator award supports a project with a goal of identifying the conditions and underlying mechanisms under which these inhomogeneities emerge by systematically imaging the magnetic and charge spatial variations across several classes of materials using cutting edge magnetic resonance techniques. Along with increasing our understanding of these materials, the research may lead to the development of new technologies in the future. This project will support the education of a PhD student, and will revitalize US competitiveness with Asia and Europe where similar efforts are well established and growing.
This individual investigator award supports a project with the goal of identifying the conditions and underlying mechanisms under which static nanoscale variations in electronic density emerge in strongly interacting condensed matter. In contrast to silicon, where electrons are essentially noninteracting, electrons in strongly correlated materials exhibit unexpected behaviors and emergent phenomena which cannot be predicted a priori. A fundamental understanding of the ground and excited states of these materials is one of the grand challenges of condensed matter physics, is critical for the design and functionality of new materials, and is the focus of a tremendous international research effort. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) will be used to systematically probe the inhomogeneous electronic states in several correlated electron systems to provide detailed information about the nanoscale spatial correlations of the spin and charge inhomogeneities in the bulk. These experiments will address some of the most fundamental and hotly contested issues in condensed matter physics concerning the nature of the inhomogeneous electronic states that emerge in the transition metal oxides, the heavy fermions, and the ferropnictide superconductors. Along with increasing our understanding of these materials, the research may lead to the development of new technologies in the future. This project will support the education of a PhD student in these advanced technologies, and will revitalize US competitiveness with Asia and Europe where similar efforts are well established and growing.
