"Impurities, Defects, and Interfaces in Bulk and Nanoscale Condensed Matter (Meta)Materials"

我提出的研究的一个主要目标是了解“缺陷”，从杂质/缺陷到界面不匹配，如何极大地改变体和纳米级（元）材料的电子、磁性和光学特性。这些研究在科学上是有趣的，而且具有相当大的实际意义，因为缺陷是不可避免的，了解它们将使我们能够利用它们来操纵宿主的行为以用于技术应用。与此相关，我提出的研究的一个子集是研究“界面现象”的深度依赖性，即材料表面附近或埋藏界面附近的性质演变。在两种材料之间的界面附近，材料的所有电子、磁性和结构特性都发生了变化。这些变化可以限制在界面附近几纳米的范围内，或者可以在许多微米的范围内改变宿主的性质。我们计划使用一些很少的方法来探测这些现象作为深度的函数，即低能β探测核磁共振和介子自旋/弛豫。此外，我提出的部分研究将继续研究具有新磁性质的系统中的局部磁性，但其潜在机制尚未完全理解。因此，我们的总体目标是：(i)提供关于缺陷和界面如何控制与实际应用相关的现有或新材料的特性的新颖实验信息，以及（ii）测试迄今为止尚未接受理解的材料中有趣现象的理论预测。

One main objective of my proposed research is to learn how "imperfections", ranging from impurities/defects to interfacial mismatch, can dramatically modify the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of bulk and nanoscale (meta)materials. These studies are scientific interesting and also of considerable practical relevance since imperfections are inevitable and understanding them will enable us to use them to manipulate the behavior of the host for technological applications. Related to this, one subset of my proposed research is to study the depth-dependence of "interfacial phenomena", i.e. the evolution of properties near the surface of a material or in the vicinity of a buried interface. All electronic, magnetic and structural properties of a (meta)materials are altered near the interface between two materials. These changes can be confined to only a few nanometers near the interface, or the host properties can be changed over many micrometers. We plan to use some of the very few methods that can probe these phenomena as a function of depth, namely low energy beta-detected nuclear magnetic resonance and muon spin rotation/relaxation. In addition, part of my proposed research continues to investigate the local magnetism in systems with novel magnetic properties but for which the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Hence, our general goals are: (i) provide novel experimental information on how imperfections and interfaces control the properties of existing or new materials that are relevant for practical applications, and (ii) test theoretical predictions of interesting phenomena in materials where there is thus far no accepted understanding.