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Seminar Speaker: Sunny Gupta, Rice University
April 4 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
In Pursuit of Nature’s Hidden Rules for Functional Quantum and Energy Materials Design
Abstract
What is the perfect blend of elements to realize a super-ionic conductor or high-temperature superconductor? Finding nature’s design rules and determining how atoms in the periodic table get arranged to give the specific properties of different functional materials has been the Holy Grail of materials science. The talk will cover examples of how I have combined different theoretical techniques, such as state-of-the-art quantum ab initio theory and deep learning with hybrid macroscopic methods to uncover nature’s hidden design rules and discover simple material descriptors for identifying different functional quantum materials for next-generation electronics applications and materials for energy storage. First, I will discuss design recipes to create new physical behaviors using 2D quantum materials. I will show how topographical undulations in 2D materials can be used as a design recipe to create exotic pseudo-electric and magnetic fields, which are useful for electron optics and realizing 1D strongly correlated electronic states. large Rashba spin-splitting for spintronics, and high-temperature excitonic superfluidity for low-power computing applications can be achieved by designing materials using simple descriptors. I will also propose recipes to design practical two-level defect states for realizing single-photon emitters, an important building block for quantum information processing and photonics-based quantum computing. In the second part of my talk, I will shift the focus to energy storage materials. I will discuss our design recipe to create mechanically soft and high ionically conductive solid electrolytes, essential components of all-solid-state batteries. I will elucidate the mechanism behind creating mechanically soft materials from a mixture of hard substances and how this leads to superionic transport. Additionally, I will present recent experimental results that validate our design approach, showcasing an Mg-based pliable ionic conductor with some of the highest-known Mg-ion conductivity.
Biography
Sunny Gupta earned his B.S. and M.S. in physics from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Nanoengineering from Rice University. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Currently, he is a Research Scientist at Rice University. His research is centered on employing and developing theoretical and computational approaches for theory, design, and synthesis prediction of functional quantum and energy materials. He received the Nettie S. Autrey Fellowship at Rice University and the KVPY Fellowship at the Indian Institute of Science.
