MIRT: Exploring Unusual Properties of Transition Metal Oxides

材料跨学科研究团队（MIRT）的使命是研究过渡金属氧化物的不寻常性质，同时培养下一代在先进材料领域受过良好训练的科学家和工程师。MIRT将德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校（UT-Austin）和弗吉尼亚大学的材料研究人员与包括K-12、本科生和研究生以及普通公众在内的教育推广项目结合起来。MIRT由具有不同理论和实验专业知识的顶尖科学家组成，将从三个方面研究过渡金属氧化物：(1)全面深入地了解d电子性质从体到表面的变化，这对于催化以及用于电化学能量转换和存储的插入复合电极至关重要；(2)战略性地解决长期存在的局域到流动电子跃迁问题，这与高过渡温度超导性和轨道无序系统中磁相互作用的固态理论有关；(3)采用高压合成、软化学合成等新方法合成新的过渡金属氧化物，并生长出具有特殊物理和化学性质的高质量晶体。MIRT还关注诸如氧化物拓扑绝缘体等新兴研究课题，其中包括探索由拓扑绝缘体和铁磁层组成的三明治结构中的新磁光效应，超导性以及具有量子计算潜在应用的新量子态。对过渡金属氧化物不寻常的表面和体积性质的基本理解预计将对下一代电子和电化学能源设备的新材料开发产生深远的影响。该项目将与美国和国外同步加速器和中子设施的科学家建立广泛的合作关系。该项目将为研究生提供研究培训，提供先进的设备/设施和专业课程，提供跨学科的物理，化学和材料科学现象的观点，推动该MIRT解决的关键突出问题。研究生-本科生研究环境，通过毕业生与工程本科生（GLUE）计划与德克萨斯大学的女性工程计划（WEP）合作，将不仅为女性本科生提供研究生水平的研究环境，而且还提供职业和专业发展。计划招募和指导西班牙裔本科生将激励他们攻读高级材料的研究生课程。本科生将接受各种仪器的实践培训，这些仪器可作为共享用户设施或在MIRT教师实验室中使用，并参与涉及材料合成、表征和物理性质测量的研究项目。MIRT的教职员工和学生将向初中和高中的磁铁项目学生，以及探索UT的公众和K-12学生提供讲座和/或演示涉及氧化物的清洁能源技术，这是一个全校开放的房子。

The mission of the Materials Interdisciplinary Research Team (MIRT) is to investigate the unusual properties of transition-metal oxides while producing a next generation of scientists and engineers well-trained in the area of advanced materials. The MIRT integrates materials researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) and the University of Virginia with educational outreach programs involving K-12, undergraduate and graduate students, and the general public.The MIRT consisting of leading scientists with diverse theoretical and experimental expertise will investigate transition-metal oxides on three fronts: (i) developing a thorough and deep understanding of the change of d-electron properties from bulk to surface, which is critical for catalytic as well as insertion-compound electrodes for electrochemical energy conversion and storage, (ii) addressing strategically the long-standing problem of the localized to itinerant electronic transition, which is relevant to high-transition-temperature superconductivity and to the solid-state theory of magnetic interactions in orbitally disordered systems, and (iii) synthesizing new transition-metal oxides by novel approaches including high-pressure synthesis, soft chemistry synthesis, and growing high-quality crystals exhibiting exotic physical and chemical properties. The MIRT also focuses on emerging research topics such as oxide topological insulators, which includes exploring new magneto-optical effects in a sandwiched structure consisting of a topological insulator and a ferromagnetic layer, superconductivity, and new quantum states with potential application for quantum computing. A fundamental understanding of the unusual surface and bulk properties of transition-metal oxides is anticipated to have a profound impact on new materials development for the next generation of electronic and electrochemical energy devices. The project will establish broad collaborations with scientists at synchrotron and neutron facilities in the U.S. and abroad. The project would provide research training to graduate students with advanced equipment/facilities and specialized coursework that offers an interdisciplinary view of the physics, chemistry, and materials science phenomena that drive the key outstanding questions addressed by this MIRT. The graduate-undergraduate research environment, through the Graduates Linked with Undergraduates in Engineering (GLUE) program in partnership with the Women in Engineering Program (WEP) at the University of Texas, will provide not only a graduate-level research environment for female undergraduates, but also career and professional development. The planned recruiting and mentoring of Hispanic undergraduates will motivate them to pursue graduate studies in advanced materials. The undergraduates will receive hands-on training on various instruments available as shared user facilities or in the MIRT faculty laboratories and participate in research projects involving materials synthesis, characterization, and physical-property measurements. The MIRT faculty and students will give lectures and/or demonstrations of clean energy technologies involving oxides to Magnet Program students at middle and high schools as well as to the general public and K-12 students at Explore UT, a campus-wide open house.