Topology, best understood for weakly interacting electrons, implies robust protection ofelectronic properties. Magnetism, on the other hand, arises fundamentally from strong interactions. An urgent and tantalizing question is whether topological protection can arise in magnetic systems, since achieving precise control over the magnetic properties of solids is a long-standing problem with critical applications for both spintronics and quantum information. IRG-2 seeks to establish a new paradigm for topological phases in strongly correlated magnetic materials.

• IRG-2’s materials synthesis and crystal growth programs will generate a new class of magnetic materials for the condensed matter community, with great potential impacts on science and our national competitiveness.

• New algorithms and software developed within this proposal to search for topological magnetic materials will be internet accessible, leading to improvements in the computer-aided design of materials in physics, chemistry, and materials communities.

• All members of IRG-2 will engage fully in CEM diversity and outreach programs. Valdés-Aguilar, the CEM REU Director and Bridge Program steering committee member, and Trivedi, the faculty lead of the Scientific Thinkers program, will take leadership roles. Also, during the course of the work, they plan to include these topics in a CEM organized international conference.

The development of novel magnetic systems enabling fast, efficient control of magnetic states is essential to advancing next-generation spin-electronics. IRG-1 is exploring a highly promising approach utilizing little-explored magnetic structures founded on insulating magnets and innovative means of controlling spins. This multidisciplinary team will establish a new regime for the creation and understanding of novel static/dynamic magnetic phases and multipronged control of the magnetic states in interface-driven metal/magnetic insulator systems.

Goals:

• This IRG will advance the development of MI interfacial platforms, provide insights into the charge and spin dynamics down to the fs/as time scales, and achieve novel control of the magnetic states, which will be made available to the research community.

• The team brings together diverse, multidisciplinary expertise including atomic-molecular-optical and condensed matter physics, chemistry, and materials sciences and engineering, to provide a rich collaborative environment in which graduate, undergraduate students, and postdocs perform cutting-edge, team-based research. CEM students and postdocs will benefit tremendously from this center-wide community, in which they develop collaboration and leadership skills.

• IRG-1 members have a strong record of actively engaging students from underrepresented minority groups in research, including those from OSU, the REU program, and community colleges. IRG-1 PIs play important roles in the OSU Physics Bridge Program in recruiting and advising the Bridge students. The supportive and collaborative environment within CEM will help Bridge students overcome the barriers in course work and research and improves their sense of belonging.

The Center for Emergent Materials (CEM) performs innovative multidisciplinary science focused on discovery and engineering of emergent materials to enable novel phenomena and phases.

UD CHARM advances foundational understanding of new materials driven by theoretical and computational predictions paired with cutting-edge experiments to enable the integration of unconventional, ultra-small, building blocks.

This past summer, about a dozen PREM faculty and students from the University of Central Florida joined MRSEC faculty and students at the University of Washington for their annual retreat at the Pack Forest Conference Center in Washington State. Against the beautiful backdrop of Douglas firs, nearly 85 materials scientists had the opportunity to share research ideas, brainstorm solutions, and collaborate.

In collaboration with Amish Patel’s group (IRG-2), researchers in the previous and current Penn MRSEC discovered that disordered packings of hydrophilic nanoparticles infiltrated with hydrophobic polymers—amphiphilic nanoporous films—can spontaneously condense and exude water droplets from undersaturated vapor under isothermal conditions.

Northwestern University engineers have developed a new nanoelectronic device that can perform accurate machine-learning classification tasks in the most energy-efficient manner yet. Using 100-fold less energy than current technologies, the device can crunch large amounts of data and perform artificial intelligence (AI) tasks in real time without beaming data to the cloud for analysis.

The 2026 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit, April 26–May 1 in Honolulu, will bring together researchers from academia, industry, and government for a week of collaboration and scientific exchange—highlighting breakthroughs in sustainability, energy, and more.

Helium may be the second-most abundant element in the universe, but on Earth it’s a finite, nonrenewable resource. Helium is so light that it’s not trapped by the lower levels of Earth’s atmosphere. And it’s extremely challenging to capture, since it’s relatively unreactive. Liquid helium is a critical ingredient in systems for cooling equipment used to study quantum systems and image atoms, as well as in the high-performance magnets used in MRI scanners and particle accelerators. But if it is not carefully contained, helium flies to the farthest reaches of the atmosphere or even out into space when it boils.

The University of Pennsylvania's MRSEC Director, Eric Stach was recently named the Scientific Director of the Singh Center for Nanotechnology. Stach’s distinguished career in materials science and engineering, specifically in transmission electron microscopy, combined with his extensive experience managing interdisciplinary research teams, positions him uniquely to lead the Singh Center towards new heights of achievement.