Institute of Experimental Physics
Topic
Substitutional compounds of novel multiferroic functional materials with distorted perovskite structure
PhD. program
Condensed matter physics
Name of the supervisor
RNDr. Matúš Mihálik, PhD.
Contact:
Receiving school
Faculty of Science, P.J. Safarik University
Annotation
Transition metal oxides with a distorted perovskite structure are intensively studied both because of the strong correlation between orbital, electric, spin and lattice degrees of freedom, as well as because of their high application potential (cathodes for fuel cells, sensors for the detection of various gases, electronic components with strong magnetoelectric coupling etc.) of these materials. The distorted perovskite structure is very tolerant to substitution at individual crystallographic positions, which opens up the possibilities of tuning the physical properties towards a higher application potential of these compounds, as well as the possibilities of a better understanding of the basic physical properties and processes. The goal of the work is to synthesize new solid solutions with the chemical formula RET1-xT'xO3 (RE = rare earth; T, T' = transition metal; 0 ≤ x ≤ 1), to characterize their basic physical properties with an emphasis on magnetism, multiferroicity, specific heat; and subsequently optimize properties by substitution. Various physical and chemical methods will be used, mainly the float zone method and wet chemistry routes for sample preparation and DC/AC magnetometry, calorimetric methods and dielectric experiments for sample characterization.