Discovery, synthesis and neutron scattering of layered quantum magnets and metallic antiferromagnets

Speaker:  Manohar H. Karigerasi, Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Program Description:
Quantum materials such as unconventional superconductors and quantum spin liquids are magnetically layered in the sense that the spin interactions are known to be limited within the layers although the bonding maybe a mixture of covalent and ionic. With recent growing interest towards the use of these materials as qubits in quantum devices, I will discuss a robust algorithm that will help us identify previously known but understudied magnetically layered materials with specific structural motifs. Antiferromagnets are the key to future MRAM devices with their resistance to perturbation against stray magnetic fields, producing no field of their own and displaying ultrafast dynamics. The theory of spin orbit torque-based switching in ferromagnets is equally applicable to antiferromagnets. In this talk, I will also discuss some recent efforts in the discovery of a new metallic antiferromagnet in the Cu-Mn-As system and neutron scattering measurements carried out on Mn3As2 and Fe2As to understand their static magnetic ordering and dynamic spin interactions.