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

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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.