Materials World Network: Design, Synthesis and Characterization of New Multiferroic Perovskites

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This Materials World Network award to Ohio State University is for collaborative research to model, synthesize and characterize new transition metal oxide and pseudo-oxide perovskites, which exhibit multiferroic behavior and/or significant magnetoelectric coupling. This award is co-funded by the Solid State Chemistry Program and the Europe and Eurasia Program in the Office of International Science and Engineering at NSF. Multiferroic materials exhibit ferro-, ferri- or antiferromagnetic ordering in coexistence with ferroelectric ordering. Most, if not all potential applications of multiferroic materials are based on exploitation of the magnetoelectric effect, whereby the electric and magnetic polarizations are coupled. This rare type of coupling, if it can be exploited, would enable completely novel ways of storing, transmitting and processing electronic information including magnetically recorded ferroelectric memory, stationary radar arrays, and RF communications. The project will comprise several mutually interdependent research tasks involving complex mixed-metal oxides that may show both magnetic and electric ordering, synthesis of the high quality single phase materials, complete structural characterization using a combination of variable temperature, high resolution laboratory and synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction, neutron powder diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy techniques. These efforts will be coupled with measurements of the magnetic and electric properties and the coupling between the two, and guided by computational modeling using tools that range from bond valence optimization algorithms to spin dependent density functional band structure calculations. The discovery of new magnetoelectric materials and the exploration of the composition structure property relationships for the above systems can be considered as the main possible outcome of the project. Researchers from Ohio State University (synthesis, basic characterization, computation), Moscow State University (advanced TEM) and the University of Sydney (neutron, x-ray spectroscopy) are involved in this collaborative research with scientists in each location contributing its complementary strengths. This grant will support student and faculty exchanges between the three institutions and will also provide access to state of the art neutron diffraction facilities and high pressure high temperature synthetic capabilities. The award will support research activities and brings together research infrastructure and expertise in a number of areas, including computational modeling of perovskites, high pressure-high temperature synthesis and electron microscopy, and variable temperature neutron and synchrotron diffraction techniques. The award is expected to train future researchers with techniques such as structure determination by combined neutron and X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, etc., that would give them research experience associated with new and existing neutro