Synthesis, Nanosizing, and Properties of Layered Metal-Halide Magnets with Complex Compositions

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY Magnetic materials play critical roles in many energy and information technologies, and they enable the innovation of future technologies capable of harnessing electron spins to introduce and control new device functionalities. To promote the progress of science and technology in these areas, this project is generating fundamentally new forms of layered magnetic materials with complex compositions, and it is applying advanced physical measurement techniques to elucidate the physical properties of these new materials. The project, supported by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program in the Division of Materials Research, is yielding new fundamental scientific knowledge and new materials that inform future technological possibilities, and it is providing advanced student training to help prepare tomorrow's leaders in science, engineering, and related fields. To increase access to materials research, this project is engaging early undergraduate students and is broadening its regional and national impact through outreach, diversity, and professional-development activities, including through organization of a regional conference in nanomaterials research that builds community ties among participants from primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), research (R1) universities, national laboratories, and industry. TECHNICAL SUMMARY This project is developing and investigating new inorganic materials with complex compositions based on layered magnetic metal-halide compounds. Key materials platforms in this project are the layered A2CrX4 and CrX3 compounds (A = monovalent cation, X = halide), as well as related compounds generated by doping, alloying, heterostructuring, and nanostructuring. The project balances synthesis, spectroscopy, and electronic-structure studies to expand the composition space of such layered metal-halide magnetic materials, to advance the understanding of their fundamental electronic structures, to understand energy migration, trapping, and impurity sensitization in such materials, and to access the nanocrystal toolbox for developing anion-exchange, cation-exchange, and heterostructuring chemistries not previously explored for this class of materials. This project is also engaging first-time undergraduate researchers from diverse backgrounds, developing programming for student professional development, and leading efforts in regional community building in nanomaterials research. 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.