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Complex metal oxides are a diverse and highly versatile class of materials that can exhibit scientifically and technologically important behaviors ranging from magnetism to piezoelectricity.  New technologies and new fields of applications can be realized by expanding the scope of available ionic compositions and increasing the geometric complexity of nanostructures formed from crystalline oxide materials. IRG 2 focuses on probing the synthesis of oxides, increasing the range of available oxide compositions, and forming unique nanostructures – directions that are each enabled by use of novel transformations from the amorphous to crystalline form. This process of solid phase epitaxy, or SPE, allows the crystallization of materials that cannot be made through conventional processing techniques and provides the freedom to develop new materials and explore new properties.

This IRG aims to advance understanding and control of metallic antiferromagnetic materials using ultrafast optics and currents, as well as fast temperature excursions. The primary goal is to answer open questions concerning the coupling of magnetic order, optical fields, electronic excitations, and lattice vibrations that underlie fundamental limits on the control of magnetization dynamics.

IRG 2 develops recyclable, reconfigurable polymers with self-healing and adaptive properties to revolutionize materials manufacturing. By integrating simulation, advanced synthesis, and FAIR data sharing, this research enables sustainable materials for extreme conditions, agile manufacturing, and energy-efficient applications, reducing environmental impact and advancing industries from aerospace to energy.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Nebraska supports an interdisciplinary research program on Quantum and Spin Phenomena in Nanomagnetic Structures (QSPINS). The MRSEC's research is centered on studies of new magnetic materials and structures at the nanometer scale, with the aim of developing fundamental understanding of their properties and related phenomena important for advanced technological applications. QSPINS is organized into two interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs). IRG1 'Nanoscale Magnetism: Structures, Materials and Phenomena' focuses on fundamental physics, chemistry, and materials issues in nanoscale magnets, addressing important quantum, electronic structure, nanofabrication, high-sensitivity measurements, and magnetization-dynamics problems. Nanostructuring has reached a length scale where quantum approaches are needed, and this IRG brings a unique combination of theory, modeling, and new fabrication and measurement methods to the study of novel materials and phenomena. The expected outcomes are new insights into phenomena and structures important for the development of novel cluster-assembled materials, higher energy-density permanent magnets, and information-technology materials. IRG2 'Magnetoelectric Interfaces and Spin Transport' employs the electron spin in a synergistic combination with novel nanoscale magnetic and ferroelectric structures to manipulate spin-dependent properties to yield new scientific concepts and achieve enhanced functionalities. Designed magnetoelectric and piezomagnetic heterostructures are to be investigated where the interplay between electricity, elasticity, and magnetism across interfaces manifests interesting unexplored phenomena, such as electrically-controlled exchange bias and magneto-crystalline anisotropy, and ferroelectrically-tailored spin transport.

QSPINS's education and outreach programs encourage gifted young people to pursue scientific careers, broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in science through targeted programs, and improve materials literacy among the general public. As an integral part of the Center, QSPINS offers interdisciplinary training for the next generation of materials scientists and engineers by providing regional four-year institutions experience and tools to improve their materials science programs and curricula, offering opportunities for middle- and high-school teachers and their students to learn about materials science, and by addressing pre-college segments of the educational pipeline via targeted outreach activities. QSPINS maintains shared experimental and computational facilities and supports exploratory Seed Projects to provide continual revitalization of the projects and investigators and promote new interdisciplinary collaborations. QSPINS fosters interactions with industrial companies to leverage the expected scientific innovations for potential technological advances.

PAQM encompasses two IRGs that build higher dimensional materials from lower dimensional structures to create the next generation of quantum, optoelectronic, and energy transport materials.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Nebraska supports an interdisciplinary research program on Quantum and Spin Phenomena in Nanomagnetic Structures. The MRSEC includes faculty participants representing the departments of physics, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and the school of biological sciences The Center's research is organized into two interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs). IRG1, Nanomagnetism: Fundamental Interactions and Applications, is concerned with the study of exchange and magnetostatic interactions between particles or grains in nanostructures. IRG 2, Spin Polarization and Transmission at Nanocontacts and Interfaces, investigates spin polarization and transport through nanoscale magnetic contacts and at ferromagnetic/ferroelectric structures. The Center's research is aided by extensive collaborations with other universities, government and industrial laboratories that bring in over fifteen additional participants. The Center also maintains shared experimental facilities in support of its research efforts. Education outreach efforts include research experiences for teachers and for faculty-student teams from predominantly undergraduate institutions.

The goal of IRG #3 is to advance the understanding of molecular plasmonics at the single nanoparticle and single molecule levels and to develop the new research tools necessary to accomplish this. The group is working to control and manipulate light on the nanometer-length scale as mediated by localized and propagating surface plasmons. The major thrusts of this effort include:

1. developing new, anisotropic nanomaterials,
2. creating passive and active plasmonic devices,
3. developing coherent control strategies to manipulate plasmons within nanoparticle arrays,
4. understanding the coupling mechanism between molecular chromophores and surface plasmons, and
5. understanding the coupling between plasmons and other nano- and micro-scale resonantors.

While living systems routinely achieve size-controlled assembly, synthetic approaches lag far behind. IRG1: Self-Limiting Assembly adopts a bioinspired approach to develop a suite of building blocks which undergo equilibrium self-assembly that self-terminates at tunable finite-sized structures without requiring external control. 

IRG-3 at MRL examines in detail the unique opportunities afforded bulk materials through the addition of nanoparticles. We have shown that the increasing availability of organic and inorganic nanoparticles and structured colloids creates exciting opportunities for new soft cellular materials with unique property combinations at low cost. These include improved electrical or ionic conductivity and thermal/mechanical stability, exceptional barrier properties or chemical resistance, etc. Nanoparticles can be used to statically or dynamically stabilize the cellular fluid precursors and enhance or impart new properties to the material formulation. Development of these materials will require a fundamental, science-based understanding of strategies to control nanoparticle location, structure and dynamics.

The NSF MRSEC program is celebrating its 10th anniversary. A special function was organized at the Fall 2004 MRS Meeting the evening of Tuesday, November 30.