Shixiong Zhang, Indiana University, Controlled Synthesis and Emergent Properties of Heavy Transition Metal Oxides and Sulfides

Date: Mon. March 18th, 2019, 12:45 pm-1:45 pm

Controlled Synthesis and Emergent Properties of Heavy Transition Metal Oxides and Sulfides

Shixiong Zhang

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

Heavy transition metal compounds (e.g. oxides and sulfides) often possess strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) because of their high atomic numbers and electron correlation due to their compact d-orbitals. The competition and interplay of SOC and electron interactions is believed to induce a variety of novel electronic and magnetic ground states. In this talk, I will present our recent experimental work on two representative material systems, namely iridates and layered metal sulfides which exhibit a broad spectrum of intriguing physical properties. For the iridates, I will focus on the pyrochlore compounds which are predicted to host exotic topological states including the magnetic Weyl semimetals. I will present how we synthesize the bulk crystals and thin films, followed by a discussion of their unusual magnetic and electrical properties arising from the interplay of SOC and electron correlation. For the layered metal sulfides, I will discuss the controlled growth of two-dimensional nanoplates and thin films by chemical vapor deposition and the engineering of their transport properties by controllably tuning their stoichiometry.

host: Xuan Gao