Strongly correlated electron physics in novel materials

物质的基本物理理论已经为人所知几十年了，但越来越多的科学家正在发现挑战这些公认原则的材料，在这些新类别的化合物中，存在着相当大的技术创新潜力。然而，在我们能跑之前，我们必须先走，并且需要对这些新特性的物理特性有充分的了解，这样材料才能被我们的意志所弯曲。值得注意的是，最近的研究指出了我们的标准金属理论中明显的错误，其根本原因是组成电子之间的强相互作用。传统上，电子-电子相互作用在金属中被认为是可以忽略的，通常被忽略。然而，在过去的几十年里，已经发现了新的材料，其中电子相互作用能与电子动能（或平动）能相当；这些电子被称为“强相关”。这些体系不仅似乎违背了金属的标准理论，而且经常显示出惊人的磁性现象。一个特别令人兴奋的方面是，这些现象为我们提供了技术发展的绝佳机会。事实上，在过去几十年里发现的一些新的相关电子系统已经被用于固态器件。例子包括用于移动电话网络的变电站，其中包含高tc铜超导体和利用Fe/Cr/Fe三层的巨磁阻特性的新磁读头技术。这项科学研究计划的中心是生产和研究奇异材料，目标是发现新的相关电子量子态。它着重于两个未开发的材料家族，铌酸盐和铱酸盐，我们相信这将为相关电子领域的研究提供新的和有趣的途径。这项研究本质上是基础性的，但由于新的电子量子现象为应用科学提供了极好的机会，因此它与电子设备的发展有着非常明确的联系。从更广泛的角度来看，材料物理学代表了科学开拓的新前沿。物理学家类似于勇敢的探险家，他们渴望发现和冒险，开始探索和绘制世界地图。在他们的探险过程中，这些先驱者发现了一些关于我们星球的惊人事实，这些事实挑战了许多长期以来的观念观点，例如，世界不是像以前认为的那样是平的，而是球形的。以类似的方式（尽管危险要小得多！），我们希望发现令人兴奋的新现象，挑战我们目前对自然的看法，增强我们对我们所生活的宇宙的理解。正是这种发现的兴奋驱使材料物理学家探索和量化奇怪的新化合物，希望有一天能造福所有人。

The basic physical theories of matter have been known for many decades but increasingly scientists are uncovering materials that challenge some of these accepted tenets, and within these new classes of compounds there is considerable potential for technological innovation. However, before we can run we must walk and a full understanding of the physics of these novel properties is required so the materials can be bent to our will. Notably, recent research has pointed to glaring errors in our standard theory of metals, the underlying cause of which are strong interactions between the constituent electrons. Traditionally, electron-electron interactions have been treated as negligible within metals and generally ignored. However, over the last few decades novel materials have been uncovered in which electron interaction energies are comparable to the electronic kinetic (or translational) energies; the electrons are said to be 'strongly correlated'. As well as appearing to defy the standard theories of metals these systems quite often display striking magnetic phenomena. A particularly exciting aspect is that these phenomena offer us excellent opportunities for technological development. Indeed, several new correlated electron systems discovered in the last few decades have been adapted for solid state devices. Examples include substations for mobile phone networks that incorporate the high-Tc cuprate superconductors and new magnetic read head technologies that exploit the giant magnetoresistance properties of the Fe/Cr/Fe trilayers. This scientific research proposal is centred on producing and studying exotic materials with the goal of discovering new correlated electron quantum states. It focuses two unexplored families of materials, the niobates and iridates that we believe should provide new and interesting avenues of research in the correlated electron field. The research is fundamental in nature but benefits from a very clear connection to electronic device development since new electronic quantum phenomena offer excellent opportunities for applied science.On a broader view, the physics of materials represents a new frontier for scientific pioneering. Physicists are analogous to the intrepid explorers who, in their thirst for discovery and adventure, set out to explore and map the world. In their course of their adventures, those pioneers discovered some startling facts about our planet that challenged many long-held conceptual viewpoints, for example the world was not flat, as had been previously supposed, but spherical. In a similar manner (although with considerably less danger!), we hope to uncover exciting new phenomena that challenge our current perceptions of nature and enhance our understanding of the universe that we live in. It is this thrill of discovery that drives people in materials physics to explore and quantify strange new compounds that will hopefully one day benefit all.