CAREER: Design and synthesis of functional van der Waals magnets

非技术摘要：了解和控制材料的物理性质对科学研究和技术进步都很重要。该项目进行了一项全面的实验研究，以揭示影响范德华磁体中长程磁有序的潜在磁能级。这些信息的成功获取对于从根本上理解低维系统中的磁性和量子材料的更广泛进展至关重要。该项目的新材料设计和合成部分旨在产生大量新的可用化合物，这些化合物具有广泛的磁性。这些新的磁体进一步促进了量子磁学的新兴领域，这对实现未来技术中的量子革命至关重要。该教育计划与这一研究项目相结合，通过在多个层次扩大磁学和凝聚态实验技术的教育，使研究生、本科生和K-12学生受益。该教育计划还促进了与亚利桑那大学作为拉美裔服务机构的机构承诺和指定一致的物理学多样性、公平性和包容性的价值观。技术摘要：磁学为在纳米尺度上操纵物理性质提供了一种独特的途径。然而，由于对磁性的了解有限以及缺乏可用的层状磁性材料，低维磁性的发展面临着重大的限制。该项目的目标是通过系统的热力学表征提高对低维磁性有序的理解，并合成将在未来电子学中发挥重要作用的新的磁性范德华(VDW)材料。实验工作集中在通过低温磁化和热容测量来系统地表征块体VDW磁体的磁交换相互作用和磁各向异性。这些实验结果对于定量理解影响体相和二维极限层状磁体磁性能的关键因素是至关重要的。该项目团队还致力于通过整合化学和物理指导原则来设计和合成新的功能性VDW磁体，这些磁体具有可控的磁行为和高的磁序温度。该项目利用了包括稀土磁性和钙钛矿型结构在内的欠发达地区，这些结构在电子和磁性状态下都提供了广泛的可调性。探索性合成实验的结果是公开的，有助于为未来旨在加速新材料发现的机器学习开发提供平衡的训练数据集。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-technical abstract:Understanding and controlling the physical properties of materials is important for both scientific research and technological advancement. This project conducts a comprehensive experimental investigation to unveil the underlying magnetic energy scales that affect long-range magnetic ordering in van der Waals magnets. The successful acquisition of this information is pivotal to the fundamental understanding of magnetism in low-dimensional systems and broader progress in quantum materials. The novel materials design and synthesis part of this project aims to generate a large pool of newly available compounds that exhibit a wide range of magnetic properties. These new magnets further contribute to the emergent field of quantum magnetism, essential for realizing the quantum revolution in future technologies. The education plan integrates with this research project by broadening education in magnetism and condensed-matter experimental techniques at multiple levels to benefit graduate, undergraduate, and K-12 students. The education plan also promotes the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in physics consistent with the University of Arizona’s institutional commitments and designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution.Technical abstract:Magnetism offers a unique avenue for manipulating physical properties at the nanoscale. However, the development of low-dimensional magnetism faces significant constraints due to a limited understanding of magnetic properties and a lack of available layered magnetic materials. The goals of this project are to advance the understanding of low dimensional magnetic ordering through systematic thermodynamic characterization, and to synthesize new magnetic van der Waals (vdW) materials that will play a major role in future electronics. Experimental efforts focus on systematically characterizing the magnetic exchange interaction and magnetic anisotropy of bulk vdW magnets through low-temperature magnetization and heat capacity measurements. These experimental results are crucial for a quantitative understanding of the key factors that influence the magnetic properties of layered magnets in both bulk form and at the two-dimensional limit. The project team also aims to design and synthesize new functional vdW magnets that exhibit a controlled magnetic behavior and high magnetic ordering temperature by integrating chemistry and physics guiding principles. This project taps into underdeveloped areas that include rare earth magnetism and perovskite-type structures, which offer a wide tunability in both electronic and magnetic states. Results from exploratory synthesis experiments are made publicly available, contributing to a balanced training dataset for future machine learning developments aimed at accelerating new material discovery.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.