Spatial and Temporal Complexity in Disordered Strongly Correlated Electronic Systems

技术概述：具有强电子相关性的新型材料可以在纳米尺度上导致自发电子模式的形成和复杂性。了解这些模式的形成可能是我们理解宏观电子特性和最终技术控制这些材料的关键。PI将使用无序和玻璃系统的技术来确定控制纳米尺度图案形成的基本物理。更广泛的影响包括指导女研究生学习物理学，向高中推广，以及培训研究生。虽然越来越多的人认为，许多强相关的电子系统在纳米尺度上极易受到模式形成的影响，但不幸的是，我们大多数的理论和实验工具都是为理解和检测物质的均相而设计的。PI将设计和开发理解、检测和表征纳米级强相关电子系统中电子模式形成的新方法，特别是在存在强无序效应的情况下。PI将采用玻璃和非平衡无序相的研究技术，目的是确定控制纳米尺度模式形成的基本物理，以及如何从新的纳米尺度结构中产生宏观行为。该研究的一个目标是，几种传统的和广泛可用的实验技术将包括数据获取和分析的新模式，以及能够检测和表征物质新相的新理论工具。PI将继续发展她开始的指导项目，该项目针对的是她所在大学物理专业的女研究生。PI将访问当地的高中，讨论她的研究。这种拓展结合了互动的动手超导示范与当前凝聚态研究的教育。此外，建议的工作将促进一名研究生的培养。非技术总结：该奖项支持对复杂模式形成的理论研究和教育，这种复杂模式形成已被观察到发生在包括高温超导体和巨磁阻材料在内的一类有趣材料中的电子中。许多材料中电子态的有用概念通常是基于材料内部的电子态是均匀的这一想法。普通金属线、半导体和某些磁铁中的电子状态就是例子。高温超导体的出现以一种新的方式打破了这一范式。电子本身在材料内部形成复杂的图案。电子之间的这种团块行为可能是在更大类别的强相关材料中观察到的一些奇异性质的关键。这个名字反映了电子之间的强相互作用导致它们运动中的相关性。PI特别感兴趣的是技术上重要的特性，如高温超导性，这可能对提高能源效率的技术产生影响，以及巨磁阻材料，当置于磁场中时，其对电流的电阻表现出惊人的大变化。这种图案形成的一些例子在特征上也是分形的，这意味着图案在小、中、大长度尺度上同时包含相似的结构细节。目前的理论和实验技术不足以检测或分类这些材料内电子的团块行为。PI将设计和开发新的方法来理解、检测和表征原子和分子长度尺度上这些强相关材料中的电子模式形成。为了实现这一目标，PI将使用研究玻璃（如窗户玻璃）和其他无序材料的技术，目的是确定这些材料中电子复杂图案形成的基本物理原理。这项研究的一个可能的结果是，几种传统的和广泛可用的实验技术将有新的数据采集和分析模式，以及新的概念，这将使检测和表征新的物质非均质相成为可能。该项目还支持培训一名研究生，指导女研究生学习物理学，并向当地高中推广，将互动式的超导演示与PI目前在凝聚态物理方面的研究结合起来。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Novel materials with strong electronic correlations can lead to spontaneous electronic pattern formation and complexity at the nanoscale. Understanding the formation of these patterns may be a key to our understanding of the macroscopic electronic properties and to our eventual technological control of these materials. The PI will use techniques from disordered and glassy systems to determine the fundamental physics governing the nanoscale pattern formation. Broader impacts include mentoring graduate women in physics, outreach to high schools, and the training of graduate students. While there is growing consensus that many strongly correlated electronic systems are highly susceptible to pattern formation at the nanoscale, unfortunately most of our theoretical and experimental tools are designed for understanding and detecting homogeneous phases of matter. The PI will design and develop new ways of understanding, detecting, and characterizing electronic pattern formation in strongly correlated electronic systems at the nanoscale, especially in the presence of strong disorder effects. The PI will employ techniques from the study of glasses and disordered phases both in and out of equilibrium with the aim to determine the fundamental physics governing the nanoscale pattern formation, as well as how the macroscopic behavior that arises from novel nanoscale structure. A goal of the research is that several conventional and widely available experimental techniques will include new modes of the way data is acquired and its analysis and new theoretical tools that enable the detection and characterization of novel phases of matter.The PI will continue to develop the mentoring program she began for graduate women in the physics program at her home institution. The PI will visit local high schools to discuss her research. This outreach combines interactive hands-on superconductivity demonstrations with education about current condensed matter research. In addition, the proposed work will advance the training of one graduate student. NONTECHNICAL SUMMARY:This award supports theoretical research and education on the complex pattern formation which has been observed to occur among the electrons in an interesting class of materials that include high-temperature superconductors and colossal magnetoresistance materials. Useful conceptualizations of electronic states in many materials are often based on the idea that electronic states inside the material are uniform. The electronic states in ordinary metal wires, in semiconductors and in some magnets are examples. High temperature superconductors have emerged as examples that break this paradigm in a new way. The electrons themselves form intricate patterns inside the materials. This kind of clumpy behavior among the electrons may hold the key to some of the exotic properties which have been observed in the larger class of strongly correlated materials. The name reflects the role of strong interactions among electrons leading to correlations in their motions. Of specific interest to the PI are technologically important properties such as high temperature superconductivity, which may have impact on technologies to increase energy efficiency, and colossal magnetoresistance materials which exhibit an amazingly large change in resistance to electric current flow when placed in a magnetic field. Some examples of this pattern formation are also fractal in character, meaning that the patterns simultaneously incorporate similar structural details at small, medium, and large length scales.Current theoretical and experimental techniques are inadequate for detecting or classifying the clumpy behavior of the electrons inside these materials. The PI will design and develop new ways of understanding, detecting, and characterizing electronic pattern formation in these strongly correlated materials on the length scales of atoms and molecules. In order to accomplish this, the PI will use techniques from the study of glasses such as window glass and other disordered materials with an aim to determine the fundamental physics responsible for the complex pattern formation of the electrons inside these materials. A possible outcome of this research is that several conventional and widely available experimental techniques will have at their disposal new modes of data acquisition and analysis and new concepts that will enable the detection and characterization of new inhomogeneous phases of matter. This project also supports training one graduate student, mentoring graduate women in physics, and outreach to local high schools which combines interactive hands-on superconductivity demonstrations with education about the PI's current research in condensed matter physics.