Local Atomic Structure of Complex Oxides

University Of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

0102565 Egami Complex electronic oxides that show remarkable properties, such as the colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) manganites and the high-temperature superconductive cuprates, have atomic and nano-scale local structures that are distinct from the average crystal structure, and these local structures more directly influence their electronic properties than the average structure does. The goal of this project is to determine the local structure of complex electronic oxides using pulsed neutron scattering, synchrotron x-ray scattering and modeling. We directly determine the distances between atoms using the method of the atomic pair-density function (PDF) analysis of the total scattering data including diffuse scattering. %%% The knowledge obtained by this project would form a scientific basis for the rapidly developing technology of highly sensitive oxides, and would suggest ways of improving their performance. This project is also related to the effort to upgrade a pulsed neutron powder diffraction beamline, NPD, at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, supported by the NSF and DOE.