Designer Quantum Materials - Thermodynamics and Transport
Lead Research Organisation:
University of St Andrews
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Designer thin film heterostructures of strongly correlated electron systems are an exciting playground for condensed matter physics, not only for the opportunities that they provide for fundamental research but also for the potential technological impact they could have. They are one of the most promising avenues to develop advanced materials technology that allows one to design and assemble materials of near-arbitrary electronic, magnetic and structural properties. Long term success could mean the integration of such properties as superconductivity (allowing power transmission without loss), spin currents (transporting information without charge) or thermoelectricity (efficiently converting heat into electricity).
This search for new, multifunctional capabilities is a major ambition of research into such artificial 'designer' heterostructures of transition metal oxides, in which structural, magnetic and electric properties are strongly linked, resulting in multifunctional capabilities. In recent years we have become adept at depositing such complex materials with atomic precision layer by layer. This has led to a range of unexpected discoveries rooted in the fact that such materials go well beyond the paradigm of standard semiconductor physics with their electrons not behaving independently but instead strongly interacting. The quantum mechanical correlations driving the unusual properties of the bulk also lead to the emergence of new physics at both interfaces and in heterostructures that can now be tuned through composition control on atomic lengthscales. Famous examples are the emergence of a superconducting metal at the interface of two insulators and the giant magnetoresistance effect discovered a quarter of a century ago and now at the heart of almost every hard drive.
Current research in transition metal oxide heterostructures therefore combines discovery and the quest for understanding. My proposal is situated at this frontier. I am planning to investigate new materials that display phenomena that are impossible or very difficult to stabilize in bulk material. These include unconventional superconductivity, the effect of strong correlations on topological insulators and spin liquids/spin ice in low dimensions.
A core role in this research program is played by the creation of a new bespoke experimental platform tailored to thin film materials. In current thin film research the standard measurement tool is electric conductivity, with other highly specialized techniques playing a more restricted role due to current technical constraints. Measuring other key quantities relating experiment to theory, such as magnetic properties or the capability of storing and releasing heat is much more challenging. The reason is that typical designer heterostructures have a thickness a thousand times thinner than a human hair. Their thermodynamic signatures are vanishingly small compared to everyday experience and require new, sensitive tools for their measurement. I will use state-of-the-art thin film fabrication tools and ultra-thin membranes to create such bespoke tools to overcome this challenge.
This search for new, multifunctional capabilities is a major ambition of research into such artificial 'designer' heterostructures of transition metal oxides, in which structural, magnetic and electric properties are strongly linked, resulting in multifunctional capabilities. In recent years we have become adept at depositing such complex materials with atomic precision layer by layer. This has led to a range of unexpected discoveries rooted in the fact that such materials go well beyond the paradigm of standard semiconductor physics with their electrons not behaving independently but instead strongly interacting. The quantum mechanical correlations driving the unusual properties of the bulk also lead to the emergence of new physics at both interfaces and in heterostructures that can now be tuned through composition control on atomic lengthscales. Famous examples are the emergence of a superconducting metal at the interface of two insulators and the giant magnetoresistance effect discovered a quarter of a century ago and now at the heart of almost every hard drive.
Current research in transition metal oxide heterostructures therefore combines discovery and the quest for understanding. My proposal is situated at this frontier. I am planning to investigate new materials that display phenomena that are impossible or very difficult to stabilize in bulk material. These include unconventional superconductivity, the effect of strong correlations on topological insulators and spin liquids/spin ice in low dimensions.
A core role in this research program is played by the creation of a new bespoke experimental platform tailored to thin film materials. In current thin film research the standard measurement tool is electric conductivity, with other highly specialized techniques playing a more restricted role due to current technical constraints. Measuring other key quantities relating experiment to theory, such as magnetic properties or the capability of storing and releasing heat is much more challenging. The reason is that typical designer heterostructures have a thickness a thousand times thinner than a human hair. Their thermodynamic signatures are vanishingly small compared to everyday experience and require new, sensitive tools for their measurement. I will use state-of-the-art thin film fabrication tools and ultra-thin membranes to create such bespoke tools to overcome this challenge.
Planned Impact
The discovery and study of new quantum phases in designer thin film materials is at this stage a fundamental research endeavour, with the strong potential for a high impact on future technologies in the long term. During the period of the fellowship, and in the medium term time scale beyond that, the research program will have a tangible and important impact on a range of areas:
Fundamental Research:
The research agenda aims at studying transport and thermodynamic properties in a range of materials, touching on key questions in unconventional superconductivity, the interplay of correlations and topological properties and spin ice/quantum spin liquid physics. This will be achieved through a new suite of bespoke instrumentation specifically tailored to the study of thin film materials. Both the scientific results and the technological developments will make important contributions to the study and development of strongly correlated electron phases in thin film materials.
New Instrumentation:
Advances in science are often coupled to the development of new instrumentation and its rapid spread through the community. This aim can be advanced by making those components requiring specialized technological know-how commercially available in a cost effective way, removing the need for redevelopment by every research team. The possibilities to do so with the technological developments of this research program will be followed up with a UK-based industry partner specializing in the commercialization of experimental setups.
Know-How Generation and Dissemination:
During the Fellowship a number of researchers at Master student, PhD and postdoctoral level will gain key know-how regarding the physical properties of thin film materials and state of the art quantum material research. They will play a crucial role acting as multipliers to take this know-how from fundamental research out of the lab, through academic or industry careers, and apply it to new scientific problems or technological challenges.
They will also play an important role in the outreach activities aimed at communicating the achievements, intrinsic challenges and potential future impact on society of fundamental research in multifunctional strongly correlated electron materials. The aspiration is to communicate these developments to the general public through models and hands-on experiences of the fascinating physical phenomena these materials host.
Fundamental Research:
The research agenda aims at studying transport and thermodynamic properties in a range of materials, touching on key questions in unconventional superconductivity, the interplay of correlations and topological properties and spin ice/quantum spin liquid physics. This will be achieved through a new suite of bespoke instrumentation specifically tailored to the study of thin film materials. Both the scientific results and the technological developments will make important contributions to the study and development of strongly correlated electron phases in thin film materials.
New Instrumentation:
Advances in science are often coupled to the development of new instrumentation and its rapid spread through the community. This aim can be advanced by making those components requiring specialized technological know-how commercially available in a cost effective way, removing the need for redevelopment by every research team. The possibilities to do so with the technological developments of this research program will be followed up with a UK-based industry partner specializing in the commercialization of experimental setups.
Know-How Generation and Dissemination:
During the Fellowship a number of researchers at Master student, PhD and postdoctoral level will gain key know-how regarding the physical properties of thin film materials and state of the art quantum material research. They will play a crucial role acting as multipliers to take this know-how from fundamental research out of the lab, through academic or industry careers, and apply it to new scientific problems or technological challenges.
They will also play an important role in the outreach activities aimed at communicating the achievements, intrinsic challenges and potential future impact on society of fundamental research in multifunctional strongly correlated electron materials. The aspiration is to communicate these developments to the general public through models and hands-on experiences of the fascinating physical phenomena these materials host.
People |
ORCID iD |
Andreas Rost (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Azari N
(2023)
Absence of Spontaneous Magnetic Fields due to Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in Bulk Superconducting UTe 2
in Physical Review Letters
Efremov DV
(2019)
Multicritical Fermi Surface Topological Transitions.
in Physical review letters
Hirschmann M
(2022)
Creating and controlling Dirac fermions, Weyl fermions, and nodal lines in the magnetic antiperovskite Eu 3 PbO
in Physical Review Materials
Marques CA
(2021)
Magnetic-Field Tunable Intertwined Checkerboard Charge Order and Nematicity in the Surface Layer of Sr2 RuO4.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Palle G
(2023)
Constraints on the superconducting state of Sr 2 RuO 4 from elastocaloric measurements
in Physical Review B
Rost A
(2019)
Inverse-perovskites A 3 B O ( A = Sr, Ca, Eu/ B = Pb, Sn): A platform for control of Dirac and Weyl Fermions
in APL Materials
Suetsugu S
(2021)
Giant orbital diamagnetism of three-dimensional Dirac electrons in Sr 3 PbO antiperovskite
in Physical Review B
Sundar S
(2024)
Gap structure of the nonsymmorphic superconductor LaNiGa 2 probed by µ SR
in Physical Review B
Description | Throughout this award key scientific findings have been made in published in regards to: - The role of higher order van Hove singularities for metamagnetism in ruthenates - The physics of Dirac and Weyl points in inverse perovskites - The determination and analysis of the elastocaloric effect in Sr2RuO4 - The phase diagram in micro crystals of CeRh2As2 The following key technological tools have been developed: - New microscale calorimeter for measurements at ultra low temperatures and high magnetic fields - New CBT thermometer on SiN platform for thin film thermodynamic measurements - New MPMS magnetisation measurement sample holder for thin film experiments - Prototype of nanoscale Farday magnetometer - Prototype of new dilatometer Manuscripts for these are being prepared. |
Exploitation Route | Publications and taking up of the technologies developed by us by partners. |
Sectors | Electronics Other |
Description | Throughout the award I had frequent meetings with three companies interested in the scientific tools developed by us and their potential applications. |
First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
Sector | Electronics,Other |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | Accelerating Control of Quantum Phases |
Amount | £50,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | SARRF |
Organisation | University of St Andrews |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2020 |
End | 07/2021 |
Description | Controlling Emergent Orders in Quantum Materials |
Amount | £1,012,019 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/R031924/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2018 |
End | 06/2023 |
Description | ISIS direct access beamtime |
Amount | £21,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RB2310716 |
Organisation | ISIS Neutron Source Facility |
Sector | Learned Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
Description | ISIS direct access beamtime |
Amount | £126,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RB2310629 |
Organisation | ISIS Neutron Source Facility |
Sector | Learned Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
Description | ISIS direct access beamtime |
Amount | £84,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RB2310651 |
Organisation | ISIS Neutron Source Facility |
Sector | Learned Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
Description | Measurement Suite for the Accelerated Design of Advanced, Quantum and Functional Materials |
Amount | £1,352,178 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/T031441/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2020 |
End | 10/2023 |
Description | NERC Discipline Hopping for Environmental Solutions |
Amount | £20,978 (GBP) |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2021 |
End | 03/2022 |
Description | Phonon anomalies and structural instabilities in TbScO3 |
Amount | £84,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RB 2310629 |
Organisation | ISIS Neutron Source Facility |
Sector | Learned Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
Description | Phonon anomalies and structural instabilities in TbScO3 |
Amount | £21,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RB2310716 |
Organisation | ISIS Neutron Source Facility |
Sector | Learned Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
Description | Spin dynamics in modified honeycomb a-Li2IrO3 |
Amount | £42,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RB2310651 |
Organisation | ISIS Neutron Source Facility |
Sector | Learned Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
Description | Thin film x-ray diffraction |
Amount | £225,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/T023449/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2020 |
End | 08/2021 |
Description | Thin film x-ray diffraction |
Amount | £225,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/T023449/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2020 |
End | 08/2021 |
Description | nanoscanCBT |
Amount | £201,841 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/V049410/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2021 |
End | 12/2024 |
Title | CBT thermometry on SiN Platforms |
Description | We developed a selfcalibrating, magnetic field independent Coulomb Blockade thermometry on SiN membranes. This enables the measurment of magnetocaloric effect and specific heat on nanocrystals. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | While we are finsihing the development our initial results were udnerpinning applications for further succesful grant applications and the evelopment of a new collaboration. |
Title | Dilatometer |
Description | As a key development step of the project we developed a new low temperature / high magnetic field high resolution dilatometer with a resolution an order of magnitude better than commercial systems and suitable for powder samples. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The tool enables the measurement of quantum oscillations in the length of samples as well as magnetostriction experiments of pressed powder samples. |
Title | Nanomagnetometer |
Description | SiN membrane based Faraday magnetometer for nanoscale samples. This a next generation Faraday magnetometer merging MEMS with scanning tunneling microscopy technology to achieve unparalleled accuracy. First successful prototype measurements have ben performed. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Not available yet. |
Title | Data underpinning Carolina de Almeida Marques's thesis |
Description | The data files are embargoed until 10/01/2024 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2024 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/datasets/data-underpinning-carolina-de-almeida-marquess-th... |
Title | Elastocaloric determination of the phase diagram of Sr2RuO4 (dataset) |
Description | Elastocaloric effect dataset for publication |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Publication |
URL | https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/datasets/elastocaloric-determination-of-the-phase-diagram-... |
Title | Magnetic-field tunable intertwined checkerboard charge order and nematicity in the surface layer of Sr2RuO4 (dataset) |
Description | Publication Dataset |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Publication. |
URL | https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/datasets/magneticfield-tunable-intertwined-checkerboard-ch... |
Title | Strain-stabilized (p,p) order at the surface of FeTe (dataset) |
Description | Publication Dataset |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Publication |
URL | https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/datasets/strainstabilized--order-at-the-surface-of-fete-da... |
Description | Collaboration CBT on SiN membranes |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Design and testing of new thermometry for specific heat measurements of designer quantum materials. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaboration in the development of thermometers for thermodynamic measurements of thin film materials. |
Impact | - |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Thermodynamics of novel Quantum Materials |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Experimental capabilities of measuring entropy changes of microcrystals. |
Collaborator Contribution | Samples |
Impact | N/A yet |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Thermodynamics under Strain |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The project explores experimental methods for the reconstruction of entropy evolution of quantum materials under uniaxial strain with data analysis and theoretical modeling contributed by us. |
Collaborator Contribution | Samples and experimental facilities. |
Impact | Preprint - https://arxiv.org/pdf/2201.04147.pdf |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Cell Block Science |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Prison visit to Polmont Prison, as part of the Cell Block Science initiative. A PhD student delivered a workshop on the theme of magnetism. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/cell-block-science |
Description | Echos Fife |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Echoes is a collaboration of school students, musicians and scientists producing and performing musical pieces inspired by the work and achievements of women in science. One of our group members participated in the project and the music was performed in front of a large audience of members of the public, members of the university and schools. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://www.electricvoicetheatre.co.uk/echoes-minerva-scientifica/ |
Description | School Outreach |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Participated in IoP physics outreach to students from ten schools. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Science Discovery Day 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Demonstration of Physical Phenomena. Development of new demonstrations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
URL | https://events.st-andrews.ac.uk/events/science-discovery-day-2019/ |
Description | Science Discovery Day 2020 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | "What's the Matter? Things that change with temperature". Condensed matter specific demonstrations with focus on how to change the properties of a material with temperature. The demonstrations were divided into three groups: solids, liquids and gases; superconductivity and magnetism. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |