MRI-R2: Acquisition of a Beowulf Cluster for Computational Materials Research and Education

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0958596LuThe University Corporation, NorthridgeTechnical Summary: This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This proposal requests support for expanding and strengthening the computational facilities of the W.M. Keck Computational Materials Theory Center (CMTC) at California State University Northridge, a minority-serving institution. The proposed research programs include: (1) Multiscale modeling of the interplay of magnetism and mechanical strength of NiAl alloys; (2) Novel transport, fractionalization and topological order in electronic materials with unusual symmetries, and (3) Spin transport in complex magnetic/ferroelectric interfaces and graphene nanogaps. We will develop state-of-the-art multiscale methodologies that couple quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and continuum mechanics to bear on important materials problems. The project will shed light on the interplay between quantum magnetism and mechanical response of materials, which has been traditionally overlooked. The project will also advance the understanding of physical phenomena underlying the novel 2D electron systems. A broad range of transport problems, such as charge and spin transport in novel nanoscale magnetic, magnetoelectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric heterostructures and DNA molecules.Layman Summary: This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The project will impact on the design of advanced high-temperature alloys used for example in aircraft engines, future development of new magneto-electronic devices, topological quantum computing and new kinds of resistive switches and ferroelectric memories used for future generation of computers. The novel graphene nanopore approach for electron and spin transport in single-stranded DNA has significant and unique potential for contributing to emerging technologies for rapid DNA sequencing. The proposed computational techniques will be applied to address a broad array of problems in physics, materials science, and mechanical engineering, etc. The computational codes will be made freely available to the research community. The research results will be integrated into both an undergraduate course in Computational Materials Science and a graduate course in Solid State Physics. As an integral part of the Center, the CMTC will continue providing interdisciplinary training for the next generation of materials scientists, including students from underrepresented groups, and offering opportunities for high-school teachers and their students, via the annual NSF funded Teacher's Camp, to learn about materials science.