Alex Frano
Understanding and controlling phase transitions is a fundamental part of physics and has been central to many technological revolutions, from steam engines to field-effect transistors. At present, there is strong interest in materials with…
Kitaev iridates have been proposed as candidates for realizing an elusive quantum spin liquid (QSL) state, in which strong spin-orbit coupling and bond-directional exchange generate a highly frustrated and entangled ground state. However,…
The mechanism behind superconductivity suppression induced by Pr substitutions in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ (YBCO) has been a mystery since its discovery: in spite of being isovalent to Y$^{3+}$ with a small magnetic moment, it is the…
Organic surface ligands are integral components of nanocrystals and nanoparticles that have a strong influence on their physicochemical properties, their interaction with the environment, and their ability to self-assemble and order into…
Phase transition materials such as NdNiO3 (NNO) when coupled with low damping ferromagnets such as La$_{0.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$MnO$_3$ (LSMO) can lead to new multi-functional material systems harnessing the interplay of charge, spin and orbital…
Complex ferromagnetic oxides such as La$_{0.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$MnO$_3$ (LSMO) offer pathways for creating energy efficient spintronic devices with new functionalities. LSMO exhibits high-temperature ferromagnetism, half metallicity, sharp…
Charge order has been a central focus in the study of cuprate high-temperature superconductors due to its intriguing yet not fully understood connection to superconductivity. Recent advances in resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) in…
Recent improvements in the energy resolution of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering experiments (RIXS) at the Cu-L$_3$ edge have enabled the study of lattice, spin, and charge excitations. Here, we report on the detection of a low intensity…
The quasi-two-dimensional magnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Se$_4$, stabilized via non-equilibrium molecular beam epitaxy, is investigated by resonant soft x-ray scattering. Kiessig fringes are observed, confirming a high sample…
Despite its amazing quantitative successes and contributions to revolutionary technologies, physics currently faces many unsolved mysteries ranging from the meaning of quantum mechanics to the nature of the dark energy that will determine…
We present a novel heterostructured approach to disentangle the mechanism of electrical transport of the strongly correlated PrNiO3, by placing the nickelate under the photoconductor CdS. This enables the injection of carriers into PrNiO3…
Electrical triggering of a metal-insulator transition (MIT) often results in the formation of characteristic spatial patterns such as a metallic filament percolating through an insulating matrix or an insulating barrier splitting a…
Neuromorphic functionalities in memristive devices are commonly associated with the ability to electrically create local conductive pathways by resistive switching. The archetypal correlated material, VO2, has been intensively studied for…
The Fe intercalated transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD), Fe$_{1/3}$NbS$_2$, exhibits remarkable resistance switching properties and highly tunable spin ordering phases due to magnetic defects. We conduct synchrotron X-ray scattering…
EuCd$_2$P$_2$ is notable for its unconventional transport: upon cooling the metallic resistivity changes slope and begins to increase, ultimately 100-fold, before returning to its metallic value. Surprisingly, this giant peak occurs at 18K,…
Recent developments in x-ray science provide methods to probe deeply embedded mesoscale grain structures and spatially resolve them using dark field x-ray microscopy (DFXM). Extending this technique to investigate weak diffraction signals…
The shape of 3$d$-orbitals often governs the electronic and magnetic properties of correlated transition metal oxides. In the superconducting cuprates, the planar confinement of the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital dictates the two-dimensional nature…
The quasi-two-dimensional van der Waals magnet Fe$_{5-\delta}$GeTe$_2$ has emerged as a promising platform for electronic and spintronic functionalities at room temperature, owing to its large ferromagnetic ordering temperature…
Neuromorphic computing approaches become increasingly important as we address future needs for efficiently processing massive amounts of data. The unique attributes of quantum materials can help address these needs by enabling new…
We use a 30-nm x-ray beam to study the spatially resolved properties of a SmNiO$_3$-based nanodevice that is doped with protons. The x-ray absorption spectra supported by density-functional theory (DFT) simulations show partial reduction of…