Materials World Network: Approaches to the Coupling of Dilute Spins in Oxides

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案资助的（公法111-5）由固态材料化学计划和加州大学圣巴巴拉材料研究部特别计划办公室颁发的材料世界网络奖将支持一项基于探索并行存在的合作研究和教育计划，--在氧化物材料中--由稀电荷载流子介导的带隙和自旋之间的铁磁耦合。与金属室温铁磁体相比，拟议的研究将探索通过轻掺杂电荷载流子系统耦合宽带隙氧化物中的稀释自旋的可能性，即，这些系统远离金属基态。除了对这个问题的基本兴趣之外，这种稀磁氧化物半导体还有望在许多应用中找到用途。所提出的工作还应该对广泛的材料界当前非常感兴趣的许多其他问题有所启发：（a）p型透明导电氧化物的缺乏;（B）在所谓的Mottronic器件中使用相关的过渡金属氧化物;以及（c）寻找室温多铁性材料。本研究项目的参与者是材料，与加州大学圣巴巴拉分校化学系和生物化学系以及联合王国利物浦大学化学系合作，并带来相关但互补的技能，以协同方式开展拟议的工作。互补的技能与两个PI使用不同的功能材料制备能力有关。测量能力也是互补的。具体的重点将是培训一批国际材料化学家，他们了解开发新材料作为新技术驱动力的重要性。圣巴巴拉和利物浦之间的本科生和研究生交流，以及K-12科学教育模块的开发--建立在该地区大量先前记录的基础上--是拟议计划的重要方面。具体而言，实验和演示将旨在灌输一种早期认识，即新材料是新技术的驱动力。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)This Materials World Network Award by the Solid State Materials Chemistry program and the Office of Special Programs in the Division of Materials Research to University of California Santa Barbara will support a collaborative research and education program that is based on exploring the concurrent existence, -- in oxide materials -- of a band gap and ferromagnetic coupling between spins mediated by dilute charge carriers. In contrast to metallic room-temperature ferromagnets, the proposed research will explore the possibility of systematically coupling, through lightly doped charge carriers, dilute spins in wide-band-gap oxides i.e., systems which are far from possessing metallic ground states. In addition to fundamental interest in the problem, such diluted magnetic oxide semiconductors are expected to find uses in numerous applications. The proposed work should also throw light on a number of other problems that are of great current interest across the broad materials community: (a) the paucity of p-type transparent conducting oxides; (b) the use of correlated transition metal oxides in so-called Mottronic devices; and (c) the search for room-temperature multiferroic materials.The participants of this research project are in the Materials, and Chemistry and Biochemistry Departments at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and at the Chemistry Department at the University of Liverpool, in the United Kingdom, and bring related yet complementary skills to address the proposed work in a synergistic manner. Complementary skills are associated with the two PIs employing distinct capabilities for the preparation of functional materials. Measurement capabilities are complementary as well. The specific focus will be on training an international cadre of materials chemists who understand the importance for developing new materials as drivers for new technologies. An exchange of undergraduate and graduate students between Santa Barbara and Liverpool, and the development of modules for K-12 science education -- building on a substantial prior record in the area -- are important aspects of the proposed program. Specifically, experiments and demonstrations will be aimed at inculcating an early appreciation that novel materials are drivers for new technologies.