CAREER: Magnetocaloric Effect in Metallic Nanostructures

技术概述：本研究将通过磁性金属组成的新型纳米异质结构的制备和表征，促进对磁热效应的理解。几何约束和物理接近将用于扰动和理解在相关相变中控制熵的结构-性质关系。研究将包括成分梯度、有限尺寸效应、定制界面和磁各向异性。人工结构材料的物理特性将通过标准磁强计和衍射技术以及与美国国家实验室合作提供的同步加速器和中子探针来表征。这些研究将有助于设计具有增强熵特性的材料，这将最终与高效磁制冷相关。非技术总结：通过在自然界中不存在的奇特纳米结构中制造标准材料，有可能制造出性能优于单个材料的新材料。这将通过使材料在纳米尺度上接触来实现。物理性质将在美国国家实验室和/或用户设施使用同步加速器和中子散射技术进行表征。这些发现将与新兴的磁热学领域有关，这一领域有可能利用环保制冷剂开发出极其高效的制冷技术。本科生和研究生的教学和培训将整合到尖端的跨学科纳米磁学研究中。学生将通过在会议上传播工作成果、参与合作以及与美国国家实验室互动，建立一个由未来导师、同事和雇主组成的网络。将制定科学文献学习模块，以增加本科生？科学素养，使一个容易和早期过渡到活跃的研究实验室，并提高本科经验的质量。南佛罗里达大学的跨学科科学、技术和数学教育研究集群将帮助将该模块扩展到其他学科，以吸引从硬科学到健康科学的广泛受众。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY: This research will advance understanding of the magnetocaloric effect through the fabrication and characterization of novel nanoscale heterostructures composed of magnetic metals. Geometric confinement and physical proximity will be used to perturb and understand the structure-property relationships governing the entropy at relevant phase transitions. Investigations will include composition gradients, finite size effects, tailored interfaces, and magnetic anisotropies. Physical properties of the artificially structured materials will be characterized by means ranging from standard magnetometry and diffraction techniques to synchrotron and neutron probes available through collaborations with US National Laboratories. These studies will help enable the design of materials with enhanced entropic properties, which will ultimately be relevant for highly efficient magnetic refrigeration. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: By fabricating otherwise standard materials in exotic nanostructures that do not exist in nature, it is possible to make new materials with properties superior to those of the individual materials. This will be accomplished by bringing the materials in contact at the nanoscale. Physical properties will be characterized using synchrotron and neutron scattering techniques at US National Laboratories and/or user facilities. Discoveries will be relevant to the emerging field of magnetocalorics, which has the potential for developing extremely high efficiency refrigeration using environmentally friendly refrigerants. The teaching and training of undergraduate and graduate students will be integrated into cutting edge interdisciplinary nanomagnetism research. Students will develop a network of future mentors, colleagues, and employers by disseminating work at conferences, participating in collaborations, and interacting with US National Laboratories. A scientific literature learning module will be formulated to increase undergraduates? scientific literacy, enable an easy and early transition into active research labs, and increase the quality of the undergraduate experience. USF's interdisciplinary Science, Technology, and Mathematics Education research cluster will help extend this module to other disciplines in order to reach a broad audience with interests ranging from the hard sciences to the health sciences.