Date/Time
Date(s) - 13/09/2023
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

ABB 102

Guest: Dr. Jacob Ruff
Director of CHEXS
Cornell University

Title: Uncovering Emergent Correlations in Materials using Comprehensive X-ray Scattering Studies

Abstract:

Crystal structure determination provides ground truth for materials physics. The process is relied upon so thoroughly that structures derived from diffraction measurements are commonly referred to as solutions, a term rarely used to describe experiments otherwise. However, many materials only approximate the perfect crystal ideal, and manifest emergent symmetries on local length scales that are not rigorously described by any of the 230 space groups. There are, in other words, many types of structures that we do not yet know how to solve. The physical importance of local and incommensurate superstructures in materials should not be understated. The study of these superstructures across wide ranges of temperature and other thermodynamic perturbations will be enabled by new experimental infrastructure and analysis methods rooted in data science. In this seminar I will survey some new approaches that are being developed to measure, identify, and understand emergent quantum phases in materials, using comprehensive x-ray studies. I will also review (aka shamelessly promote) the suite of new experimental user facilities available at the Center for High Energy X-ray Science at Cornell, which can be useful for McMaster researchers across many disciplines.