Author: Heike Brueckner

Erik Defended His Dissertation

Eric and Professor Alpay

Eric's defense


Abstract: Ceramics are very diverse class of materials and their properties can vary greatly from material to material. It is this diversity that make ceramics so useful in advanced technology. The relatively open crystal structure of ceramics makes it possible to impart functionalities via judicious doping. This work focuses on developing a generalized method for introducing magnetism into normally non-magnetic (diamagnetic) ceramics, using the example case of alumina (\ce{Al2O3}).

The results show that adding small concentrations of transition metals to alumina may increase magnetic activity by generating unpaired electrons whose net magnetic moments may couple with external magnetic fields. The dopant species and dopant coordination environment are the most important factors in determining the spin density distribution (localized or delocalized from the dopant atom) and net magnetic moment, which strongly direct the ability of the doped alumina to couple with an external field.

Our findings show conclusively that significant spin delocalization can only occur in \alpha-alumina when there are unpaired electrons in the transition metal \ce{e_{g}} states. Similar coordination environments in different phases produce similar spin densities and magnetic moments, indicating that the results presented in this work may be generalizable to the other five or more metastable phases of alumina not studied here.

The results of our slab studies indicate that if originally introduced into the bulk all of the dopant except for Fe and Co will remain there, or diffuse further into the bulk. This work serves as a template for determining promising dopants that may induce magnetism in other diamagnetic ceramics. Such doping may aid in the creation of an advanced, high strength, chemically resistant, dilute magnetic semiconductor oxides for use in advanced systems for spintronics or magnetic qubit systems, and decrease the difficulty of magnetoforming the gain structure of such diamagnetic ceramics.

Our research group was awarded a $5.4 million R&D contract by the AFRL

Alpay’s research group, in collaboration with Hebert’s research group and other researchers, will work to provide the next generation manufacturing solutions for the aerospace sector. The project, titled “Simulation-Based Uncertainty Quantification of Manufacturing Technologies,” will help the U.S. Air Force develop more efficient manufacturing processes. The goal is to understand each and every step of the manufacturing process to eliminate failures in specialized aerospace parts. Better understanding the manufacturing process will lead to reduced costs, improved component and system quality, and enhanced industrial capability.

https://today.uconn.edu/2019/03/uconn-receives-major-contract-air-force-rd-advanced-manufacturing/

Tulsi, Yomery, Tumerkan and Fu-Chang at the 2015 IMS Affiliates Annual Meeting

Our group was very active at the at the 2015 IMS Affiliates Annual Meeting held on May 27 at UConn. Tulsi, Yomery, Tumerkan and Fu-Chang presented 4 posters. 

052715_Poster
Left to right: Mehmet Tumerkan Kesim, Tulsi Patel, Yomery Espinal, and Fu-Chang Sun

TumerkanCharacterization of Ag/W Circuit Breaker Contacts After Dry, Humid, and Natural Aging, M. Tumerkan Kesim, Haibo Yu, Yu Sun, Jason Harmon, Jonathan Potter, Mark Aindow, S. Pamir Alpay

Tulsi: Additive Manufacturing, T. Patel, V. Sharma, G. Agarwal, E. Curry, S. Pamir Alpay, A. Dongare, J. Hancock, R. Hebert

YomeryPyroelectric and Dielectric Properties of Ferroelectric Films With Interposed Dielectric Buffer Layers, Y. Espinal, M. T. Kesim, I. B. Misirlioglu, S. Trolier-McKinstry, J. V. Mantese, and S. Pamir Alpay

Fu-Chang: Temperature dependent structural, elastic, and polar properties of ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and trifluoroethylene (TrFE) copolymers, Fu-Chang Sun, Avinash M. Dongare, Alexandru D. Asandei, S. Pamir Alpay, Serge Nakhmanson