CAREER: Magnetocaloric Effect in Metallic Nanostructures

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TECHNICAL SUMMARY: This research will advance understanding of the magnetocaloric effect through the fabrication and characterization of novel nanoscale heterostructures composed of magnetic metals. Geometric confinement and physical proximity will be used to perturb and understand the structure-property relationships governing the entropy at relevant phase transitions. Investigations will include composition gradients, finite size effects, tailored interfaces, and magnetic anisotropies. Physical properties of the artificially structured materials will be characterized by means ranging from standard magnetometry and diffraction techniques to synchrotron and neutron probes available through collaborations with US National Laboratories. These studies will help enable the design of materials with enhanced entropic properties, which will ultimately be relevant for highly efficient magnetic refrigeration. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: By fabricating otherwise standard materials in exotic nanostructures that do not exist in nature, it is possible to make new materials with properties superior to those of the individual materials. This will be accomplished by bringing the materials in contact at the nanoscale. Physical properties will be characterized using synchrotron and neutron scattering techniques at US National Laboratories and/or user facilities. Discoveries will be relevant to the emerging field of magnetocalorics, which has the potential for developing extremely high efficiency refrigeration using environmentally friendly refrigerants. The teaching and training of undergraduate and graduate students will be integrated into cutting edge interdisciplinary nanomagnetism research. Students will develop a network of future mentors, colleagues, and employers by disseminating work at conferences, participating in collaborations, and interacting with US National Laboratories. A scientific literature learning module will be formulated to increase undergraduates? scientific literacy, enable an easy and early transition into active research labs, and increase the quality of the undergraduate experience. USF's interdisciplinary Science, Technology, and Mathematics Education research cluster will help extend this module to other disciplines in order to reach a broad audience with interests ranging from the hard sciences to the health sciences.