TOPCHEM · Topological Chemistry in Ternary Compunds
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-09-16 → 2021-09-15
- EU contribution
- €162,806
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Topological Chemistry in Ternary Compunds
Since the description of topological electron states in graphene, new emergent physical phenomena found in topological materials have intensively attracted the attention of the scientific community. These are of special interest as they enable new technological applications in quantum computing and spintronics. For example, topological insulators can conduct electrons on the surface but are insulating in their interior. Other topological materials may display quantised conduction, which would allow for more efficient and powerful computer processing units. The main differences between topological materials and trivial ones lay in the energy-dependence of electrons in momentum and real space, which determines their behaviour in the material. This field is mainly driven by theoretical predictions and calculations, being the experimental realization of topological features scarcer. A different class of materials, thermoelectrics, allow the direct transformation of heat currents into usable electrical energy and vice versa, thanks to the thermoelectric effects, known as Seebeck, Peltier, and Thomson effects. This special feature can tackle issues such as climate change and sustainable energy production by waste heat recovery. Interestingly, some iconic topological materials have shown high thermoelectric performance as well, which can be attributed to several factors that relate these two fields with the electronic structure of the materials. Still, this relationship has only been just explored. This project targets the experimental study of thermoelectric and topological materials to investigate the connection between their transport properties, chemical and crystallographic features with the electronic structure. As such, the main objective of the action is to prepare new topological and thermoelectric materials, of which the atomic crystal and electronic structure will be analysed by different diffraction and spectroscopic techniques. Then, these will be tuned to optimise the thermoelectric properties. This sheds light on the interaction between the materials’ performance, chemical and physical properties, providing a better understanding of thermoelectric efficiency in topological materials and moving the field closer to technological applications. Thus, the implementation of this project contributes to the creation of a single market for knowledge, research, and innovation within EU Horizon 2020 goals.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The discovery of topological insulators has ignited intensive research activity in condensed matter and materials science. However, the understanding of topological electronic structure from a chemical view is still deficient.This action proposes the investigation of novel ternary ABC topological insulators (A: alkali, alkaline earth, rare earth, Group 11, B: alkaline earth or Group 8-12, C: main group element) by focusing on three aspects: 1) growth of high-quality single crystals; 2) structural characterisation and relation between topological electronic structure and chemical concepts; 3) manipulation of electronic structure aiming at thermoelectric applications.First, high-quality ABC single crystals with selected composition will be grown by suitable methods. The Fermi level will be tuned by chemical doping or controlling the intrinsic defects to observe the topological physics. Subsequently, a detailed bulk and surface structural characterisation will be performed. The electronic structure of a material in the reciprocal space can be linked to chemical concepts in real space, such as chemical bonding, electronegativity differences, orbital overlap, etc. A systematic study of the crystalline bulk and surface structures will be performed by Synchrotron and low energy electron diffraction, and X-ray absorption near the edge, to find the relation between chemical concepts and the electronic structure of selected topological materials.Finally, based on the understanding of the relation between chemical concepts and electronic structure, the thermoelectric transport properties of these novel ABC topological insulators will be investigated and optimised for thermoelectric applications.The implementation of this project will deepen the understanding of topological chemistry and stimulate the technological application of topological materials. It will contribute to EU Horizon 2020 goals creating a single market for knowledge, research, and innovation.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV · MUNCHENCoordinatorGermany
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union