Materials Science Research Lecture

***Refreshments at 3:45pm in Noyes lobby

Abstract:

Transition metal oxides are known to possess the full spectrum of fascinating properties, including magnetism, superconductivity, ferroelectricity, ionic conductivity, and more. This breadth of remarkable properties is the consequence of strong coupling among charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom. Spurred by recent advances in the epitaxial synthesis of artificial materials at the atomic scale, the physics of oxide heterostructures containing atomically well-defined layers of such correlated electron materials with abrupt interfaces is a rapidly growing area. We have established a growth technique to control complex oxides at the level of unit cell thickness by pulsed laser deposition. The atomic-scale growth control enables to assemble materials from atoms to functional systems in a programmable manner, yielding many intriguing physical properties that cannot be found in bulk counterparts. In this talk, examples of functional interfaces and artificial heterostructures composed of various transition metal oxides will be presented, highlighting the importance of precision synthesis for interfacing, straining, and stacking. The main topics will include the precision synthesis and strain engineering of artificial oxide heterostructures and freestanding membranes and symmetry breaking for novel topological phases on correlated oxides.

More about the Speaker:

Honyung Lee is currently a Corporate Fellow and Senior Advisor in the Materials Science and Technology Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). He served as Program Director for DOE-BES Materials Sciences and Engineering Program at ORNL, Interim Division Director for the Materials Science and Technology Division, and group leader for the Quantum Heterostructures group. He joined ORNL in 2002, following his postdoctoral appointment at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Germany. He got his PhD in Physics from Korea University in Seoul, Korea. His research interests involve the epitaxial synthesis of oxide-based quantum and energy materials by pulsed laser epitaxy and the physics of correlated oxide heterostructures. Dr. Lee was a winner of the 2006 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Physical Society (APS), Materials Research Society (MRS), and Korean Academy of Science and Technology.