Materials Research Science and Engineering Center: Oxide Thin Films, Probes and Surfaces

位于马里兰大学的材料研究科学与工程中心（MRSEC）致力于解决与铁电体动力学和表面纳米结构以及高自旋极化磁性氧化物特性相关的基本问题。MRSEC支持有效的大学前教育推广工作，包括面向中学女生的暑期科学项目和动手数学和科学学生项目。该中心开展了向大量工业和联邦实验室转移知识的密集活动。MRSEC还通过种子基金支持有前途的新项目，并开发和维护共享的实验设施。该中心的研究分为三个跨学科研究小组（IRG）。IRG 1，铁电薄膜中的极化动力学，解决了关键材料问题，这些问题将允许控制和优化薄膜铁电体的时间依赖性行为，并且目前限制了它们在计算机存储器，传感器和执行器中的适用性。IRG 2，表面纳米结构：从波动到驱动系统，建立在强大的实验和理论工具的基础上，由这组研究人员开发，以预测各种加工条件下薄膜的表面结构演变，包括化学气相沉积生长和电迁移。IRG 3，具有高自旋极化的金属氧化物，侧重于限制可用于磁性器件的高自旋极化金属氧化物发展的问题，包括“自旋电子学”和磁传感器。中心现有高级研究员23人，博士后8人，研究生20人，本科生10人，辅助人员2人。艾伦·d·威廉姆斯教授是MRSEC的负责人。

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Maryland addresses fundamental problems connected with the dynamics of ferroelectrics and of surface nanostructures, and with the properties of highly spin polarized magnetic oxides. The MRSEC supports an effective pre-college education outreach effort that includes summer science programs for middle school girls and hands-on math and science student programs. The Center has intensive activities for knowledge transfer to a large number of industrial and federal laboratories. The MRSEC also supports promising new projects through seed funding, and develops and maintains shared experimental facilities. Research in the proposed Center is organized into three Interdisciplinary research Groups (IRG). IRG 1, Polarization Dynamics in Ferroelectric Thin Films, addresses key materials issues that will allow to control and optimize the time-dependent behavior of thin film ferroelectrics, and that currently limit their applicability to computer memories, sensors and actuators. IRG 2, Surface Nanostructures: From Fluctuations to Driven Systems, builds upon powerful experimental and theoretical tools developed by this group of investigators to predict the surface structural evolution of films under various processing conditions, including chemical vapor deposition growth and electromigration. IRG 3, Metal Oxides with High Spin Polarization, focuses on issues limiting development of metallic oxides with high spin polarization that can be utilized in magnetic devices, including 'spintronics' and magnetic sensors. Center participants include 23 senior investigators, 8 post-doctoral associates, 20 graduate students, 10 undergraduates and 2 support personnel. Professor Ellen D. Williams directs the MRSEC.