Investigation of Spin, Charge and Lattice Coupling Effects in Van der Waals Crystals in an electron microscope

Descripción del proyecto

Manipular las funcionalidades de los materiales magnéticos

La disposición de los átomos o moléculas en los materiales sólidos es fundamental para sus propiedades físicas y químicas. Los cambios de temperatura, presión u otras condiciones externas pueden modificar las estructuras reticulares mediante un fenómeno conocido como transición de fase reticular, que a menudo provoca cambios importantes en las propiedades físicas del material. Las transiciones de fase reticular son fundamentales para manipular las funcionalidades de los materiales, y comprender los mecanismos detrás de estas transiciones es crítico para las aplicaciones tecnológicas. Con el apoyo de las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, el equipo del proyecto SCALE-ICE explorará la interacción cooperativa de las interacciones de carga, espín, orbitales y de red en los materiales magnéticos. Este trabajo permitirá mejorar la comprensión de los materiales magnéticos y sus posibles aplicaciones.

Objetivo

Lattice structures are ubiquitous in nature, which determine diverse physical and chemical properties of materials. Exploring and controlling crystal structures is a central task of material engineering. Lattice phase transition is considered as a significant approach to manipulate and control functionalities, and thus, understanding the underlying mechanism of phase transition is a basic premise and guarantee for technological applications. A fundamental understanding of the cooperative interplay between charge, spin, orbital and lattice is required to manipulate this process. The emergence of magnetic Van der Waals (vdW) crystals opened up new horizons for engineering phase transition with magnetic orders together beyond the reach of existing materials. Traditional investigation of magnetic phase transition requires neutron diffraction, which requires nuclear reactor to generate neutrons. In this project, I propose to use three-dimensional electron diffraction (3DED) to study the 3D magnetic orderings, which will serve as a complimentary method to neutron diffraction. I will also study the dynamical behaviour of magnetic ordering in vdW crystals under different electric bias conditions. In addition, I will study the 3D magnetic field distribution at the interface of heterostructures constructed by vdW crystals. I will develop continuous fast holographic tomography (CFHT) with much lower dose and higher speed compared to traditional step-wise tomography. I will also apply a special 3D reconstruction algorithm to reveal and visualize the 3D magnetic field at the heterostructure interface. The outputs of this project will provide insight into the synergy effects of charge, spin and lattice in magnetic materials and greatly facilitate the discovery of novel magnetic materials.