Career: Crystal-Chemical Relationships of Correlated Electronic Materials

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This project is focused on the synthesis and structural characterization of intermetallic heavy fermion superconductors. It is our goal to correlate magnetic properties with rare earth cations, main group, transition metals, and crystal chemical relationships. Through cooperative efforts between Louisiana State University (LSU), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), high quality samples will be produced and characterized, and detailed magnetic and transport measurements will be made. The training of undergraduate and graduate students will emphasize carrying out investigations ranging from basic sample preparation all the way through to measurement techniques and data interpretation. A community education outreach program will involve high-school science teachers working in the PI's lab during the summer. This will allow these teachers to experience research and the scientific method in action making a very positive impact on local physical science education. In addition, LSU students will perform chemistry demonstrations in K-12 school classrooms.This proposal is aimed at the exploration of the rewarding boundary between crystallography and the systematic study of structure-dependent properties such as superconductivity and magnetism in rare earth intermetallics. With the combination of synthesis, characterization, and measurements of properties of new materials, this research will create a basic understanding of the interplay of superconductivity and magnetism allowing the tailored design of new materials useful for information technology. Students will measure magnetic and electronic/ transport properties of polycrystalline and single crystal materials at Louisiana State University (LSU) gaining a broader and more diverse scientific background as they collaborate within the LSU scientific community and national laboratories. LSU students will also perform chemistry demonstrations in East Baton Rouge K-12 schools. In addition, a high school teacher will perform research in the group and return to the classroom during the academic year with new scientific perspectives, as related to new materials for information technology.