November 26 - December 1, 2023
Boston, Massachusetts
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2023 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit

Symposium QT03-Higher-Order Topological Structures in Real Space—From Charge to Spin

Real space structures with non-trivial topology, such as skyrmions, merons, dislocations and domain walls, are rich sources for emergent functional phenomena, enabling local control of magnetic, electronic and ionic transport properties, light-matter interactions, propagation of (electro)magnons and phonons, and more. The concept of topology has led to a strong cross-disciplinary dimension connecting the ferroelectrics and the magnetism communities. It is now clear that higher-order topological charge and spin textures open up a plethora of possible future dynamic nanoelectronics, spintronics and quantum devices. The beauty and connections of the unifying scientific concepts in materials with electric and / or magnetic order are mutually beneficial and have become a strong motivation for interdisciplinary activities, propelled by the recent developments in theory, synthesis and characterization.

This symposium aims to bring together scientific experts and young scientists with an interest in topologically non-trivial charge and spin textures that arise in real space, fostering interactions and advancing knowledge of higher-order topological structures in ferroelectrics, multiferroics and magnetic materials.

Topics will include:

  • Skyrmions and chiral textures, higher-order topological structures
  • Domains and domain walls, dislocations and disclinations
  • Vortex, anti-vortex, and vertex structures
  • Nanoelectronics and unconventional computing using topological defects
  • Interactions with extrinsic and intrinsic defects
  • Emergent functional properties (transport, light-matter interactions, propagation of (electro)magnons and phonons, etc.)
  • Materials (bulk crystals, thin films, superlattices, quasi-2D and free-standing systems)
  • Controlled formation and movement of electric and magnetic topological structures
  • Atomic-scale charge, spin and phonon characterization
  • Three-dimensional characterisation and reconstruction of high order topologies
  • In-situ/operando characterization of dynamic processes via electron, x-ray, optical and scanning and microscopy
  • Scale-bridging characterizarion: from picometer to micrometer, from picosecond to metastable
  • Scale-bridging theoretical simulation and modelling: from atomistic to mesoscopic, from equilibrium to driven processes

Invited Speakers:

  • Marin Alexe (University of Warwick, United Kingdom)
  • Laura Begon-Lours (IBM Ltd., Switzerland)
  • Gustau Catalan (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Spain)
  • Miaofang Chi (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA)
  • Claire Donnelly (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Germany)
  • Rafal Dunin-Borkowski (Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany)
  • Paul Evans (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA)
  • Claudia Felser (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Germany)
  • Yukako Fujishiro (RIKEN, Japan)
  • Jorge Iniguez (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
  • Katherine Inzani (University of Nottingham, United Kingdom)
  • Lane Martin (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
  • David Muller (Cornell University, USA)
  • Julia Mundy (Harvard University, USA)
  • Kayla Nguyen (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)
  • Beatriz Noheda (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
  • Xiaoqing Pan (University of California, Irvine, USA)
  • Licong Peng (RIKEN, Japan)
  • Amanda Petford-Long (Argonne National Laboratory, USA)
  • Roger Proksch (Oxford Instruments Asylum Research, USA)
  • Ramamoorthy Ramesh (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
  • William Ratcliff (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA)
  • Jan Seidel (University of New South Wales, Australia)
  • Naoya Shibata (The University of Tokyo, Japan)
  • Sandhya Susarla (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA)
  • Rina Takagi (University of Tokyo, Japan)
  • Phoebe Tengdin (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland)
  • Morgan Trassin (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
  • Pavlo Zubko (University College London, United Kingdom)

Symposium Organizers

Michele Conroy
Imperial College London
Materials
United Kingdom

Sinead Griffin
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Molecular Foundry
USA

Dennis Meier
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Norway

Haidan Wen
Argonne National Laboratory
Materials Science
USA

Topics

electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) electron-phonon interactions ferroelectricity magnetic properties scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) transmission electron microscopy (TEM)