Daniel Agterberg
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI·Physics
Many useful material properties, from the lossless current flow in superconductors to the magnetism that lets a current switch a memory bit, come from electron spin, a quantum property that acts like a tiny internal magnet. But in a crystal, electrons also carry a related quantum label called pseudospin, which arises when two electronic states are forced to have the same energy by the crystal's symmetry.
- Fields
Physics
Materials Science
- Topics
pseudospin
altermagnets
odd-parity magnets
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Sep 2027
What they work on
- Develop a comprehensive theory of pseudospin in crystals with non-symmorphic symmetry, where the usual spin-1/2 behavior breaks down, and work out its consequences for Cooper pairing and magnetic ordering.
- Use density functional theory calculations to screen for real compounds whose high-field superconductivity or unusual magnetism is driven by non-spin-1/2 pseudospin.
- Guide growth of candidate thin films by molecular beam epitaxy on perovskite oxide substrates, exploiting lattice strain, proximity effects, charge doping and electric or optical gating to tune magnetic and superconducting states.
- Test predictions by looking for the crystal Hall effect in altermagnets and the nonlinear Hall effect in odd-parity multipole magnets using advanced microscopy and spectroscopy.
More about the research
Usually pseudospin behaves just like ordinary spin, which is why standard theories of superconducting pairing, ferromagnetism and the response of materials to magnetic fields work so well. This project asks what happens when it does not.
Why it matters
Pseudospin control would give materials designers a new handle for predicting where to look for useful quantum materials, rather than relying on trial and error. Superconductors that keep working in strong magnetic fields and magnets with unconventional symmetry could matter for high-field magnets, low-dissipation electronics and spintronic devices. The project also trains students for the quantum workforce.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Kaveh Ahadi
Ohio State University, OH·Materials Science
Grow potassium tantalate niobate thin films with controlled composition and epitaxial strain by molecular beam epitaxy to map how strain and niobium content control ferroelectricity.
Nirmal Ghimire
University of Notre Dame, IN·Physics·Early-career
Synthesize kagome lattice magnets, materials with magnetic atoms on a corner-sharing triangle network, and use magnetotransport measurements to study how topological effects in real and momentum space interact.
Andre Mkhoyan
University of Minnesota, MN·Materials Science
Identify the atomic structure and chemical makeup of unconventional line defects in perovskite oxide (ABO3) thin films using atomic-resolution analytical scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM).
The school
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: 2 labs on PI Pages, $66M a year on research, 162 research doctorates a year.
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