CAREER: Chemistry Perspectives to Design Novel Superconductors

第一部分： 非技术性总结超导性虽然在世纪前首次被发现，但仍然受到问题和挑战的困扰。 超导体具有零电阻，并且当电流流过它们时强烈排斥磁场，因此可以应用于诸如可以在没有能量损失的情况下传输电力的电网，乘坐无摩擦磁体而不是轨道的超快速悬浮列车以及量子计算设备等用途。需要创新的方法来设计和合成新的超导材料。该项目由材料研究部的固态和材料化学计划以及支持竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）支持，将实验研究和理论评估相结合，以揭示设计新超导材料的基本化学原理。这项研究的科学意义在于为超导开辟了一个新的化学视角，重点关注特定元素的原子对的作用，以加速寻找新的超导体。拟议的推广活动和教育计划强调固态材料相关的推广活动，包括开发双重通信密集型认证和服务学习认证的本科课程，以及为路易斯安那州的妇女和代表性不足的少数民族学生提供充满活力的研究计划。 这些活动将扩大国家的研究能力，并促进下一代材料科学家的培训。 本项目使用化学策略来探测两种新的临界电荷转移对元素（Pd-P和Pt-P）在超导性中的作用。 PI和她的团队使用固态材料发现和物理特性表征的方法，针对选定的化合物家族，以便能够探测这些特定元素对之间断裂或形成键的作用。 与实验工作一起，电子结构和电子-声子耦合的理论确定为进一步的合成工作提供了反馈。 这种方法推进了关于一系列全面性质的知识：对电子和磁性结构的结构影响，电子-电子和电子-声子相关性，磁性，自旋-轨道耦合效应及其在超导体中的相互作用。该教育计划将侧重于开发和建立路易斯安那州固态材料的服务学习体系。这为大学生提供了在现实世界中学习的体验机会，并培养了社区参与的技能，同时为K-12学校提供了与超导性和其他性质有关的外展演示。 该项目由材料研究部的固态和材料化学计划以及支持竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

AbstractPART 1: NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYSuperconductivity, though first discovered more than a century ago, is still plagued by questions and challenges. Superconductors have zero electrical resistance and strongly repel magnetic fields when electricity flows through them and therefore have applications for uses such as grids that can transmit power without energy loss, ultra-fast levitating trains that ride frictionless magnets instead of rails, and quantum computing devices. There is a demand for innovative approaches to the design and synthesis of new superconducting materials. This project, supported by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program within the Division of Materials Research and the Established Program to Support Competitive Research (EPSCoR), combines experimental investigation and theoretical assessment to reveal fundamental chemical principles to design new superconducting materials. The scientific significance of the research is to open a new chemical perspective towards superconductivity that focuses on the role of pairs of atoms of particular elements to accelerate the search for new superconductors. The proposed outreach activities and educational plan emphasize solid-state materials-related outreach activities including the development of dually communication-intensive certified and service-learning certified undergraduate courses and a vibrant research program for women and underrepresented minority students in the state of Louisiana. These activities will expand the research capability of the state and foster the training of next-generation materials scientists.PART 2: TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis project uses chemical strategies to probe the role of two new critical charge-transfer pairs of elements (Pd-P and Pt-P) in superconductivity. The PI and her group use methods for solid-state materials discovery and physical properties characterization, targeting families of compounds selected in order to be able to probe the role of breaking or forming bonds between these specific pairs of elements. Together with the experimental effort, theoretical determination of electronic structures and electron-phonon coupling provide feedback toward further synthetic efforts. This approach advances knowledge about a comprehensive set of properties: structural influences on electronic and magnetic structures, electron-electron and electron-phonon correlations, magnetism, spin-orbit coupling effects, and their interplay in superconductors. The educational plan will focus on developing and establishing service-learning pedagogies for solid-state materials in the state of Louisiana. This gives university students experiential opportunities to learn in real-world contexts and develop skills of community engagement while providing outreach demonstrations relating to superconductivity and other properties to K-12 schools. This project is supported by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program within the Division of Materials Research and the Established Program to Support Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.