The project involves modeling of heterostructures of transition metal oxides, where competing interactions between spins, orbital and structural degrees of freedom result in complex behaviors and emergent phenomena carrying promise for novel functionalities. The work will be performed in close collaboration with the experimental group of Jacobo Santamaría of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
We aim a fundamental understanding of the interplay among dimensionality, confinement, electronic correlations, spin-orbit coupling and electron-lattice interactions in oxide heterostructures, with the final goal either of explaining new observed phenomena or of predicting heterostructures with novel properties. The work will involve model Hamiltonian and ab-initio calculations.
Related publications:
Tunable electron correlated phases in (111) LaAlO3/SrTiO3 band insulator
heterostructures, J.I. Beltrán and M.C. Muñoz, Phys. Rev. B (2017) in press.
Resonant electron tunnelling assisted by charged domain walls in multiferroic tunnel junctions, Gabriel Sanchez-Santolino et al., Nature Nanotech (2017) Doi:
10.1038/NNANO.2017.51
Signatures of a Two-Dimensional Ferromagnetic Electron Gas at the La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrTiO3 Interface Arising From Orbital Reconstruction, Norbert Marcel Nemes at al., Adv. Mater.
26, (2014) 7516
Multiorbital structure of the two-dimensional electron gas in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures: The formation of a dxy ferromagnetic sheet, J.C. Li et al., Phys. Rev.
B 87, (2013) 075411
We are looking for a motivated candidate with interest in materials theory and a Master in Physics, Chemistry or related disciplines. Interested candidates please send a CV and statement of research interests to:
M. Carmen Muñoz
Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC