Materials World Network: Local Structure, Function and the Exotic Iroperties of Transition Metal Perovskites

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This project is designed to develop a long-term international collaborative research and education effort among research teams at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) and S.N. Bose National Center for Basic Sciences, in Kolkota, India. The research focuses on investigating the influence of local structure on the physical properties of complex oxides. This class of materials exhibit many interesting phenomena, for example, coupled structural transitions and collective electronic effects such as metal-insulator transitions, phase separation at low temperatures, and multiferroic behavior. This research collaboration intends to address the important issue of sample quality, which often leads to contradictory results; controlling sample quality is important to understand the manifestly different physical behavior. The specific objectives of the project include: synthesis and characterization of high quality samples of these complex oxides in both the US and Indian laboratories; determination of the electronic properties using photoelectron spectroscopies; measurement of local structure using x-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory; and generation of high impact scientific and technological results along with an understanding of many-body interactions using theoretical tools. The results of these studies are expected to resolve several outstanding questions in this field and contribute to a better understanding of the fundamental properties of these materials, which are promising candidates for potential applications in data manipulation and storage. Furthermore, the complementary expertise of the collaborating research groups provides an ideal opportunity to train graduate students and junior researchers through extended visits to the collaborating laboratories. The students and junior researchers who participate in these exchanges will gain technical expertise and will develop international collaborations, which will benefit their careers. Training gained by junior Indian researchers at the Materials Research Collaborative Access Team beamline of the Advanced Photon Source, will prepare them to take leadership roles in the development and use of the synchrotron source in India. Inclusion of summer IIT undergraduate student interns in the project is designed to provide hands-on scientific research experience in an international setting and expose them to career opportunities through graduate studies. This award is jointly funded by the Division of Materials Research in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and the Office of International Science and Engineering ?Africa, Near East & South Asia Program.