College of Science & Engineering
Twin Cities
Electronic and magnetic materials are the central focus of the Leighton Group's research. They study a wide variety of materials, such as nanostructures, thin films, heterostructures, bulk polycrystals, and single crystals. They focus on topics with a strong fundamental science component that are in close proximity to applications in technology, including data storage and processing and electronic devices. Projects in this group feature fabrication of films and crystals, detailed structural and chemical characterization, and in-depth measurement by numerous techniques, including transport, neutron and X-ray scattering, magnetometry, and heat capacity. This work is highly collaborative, and the researchers are involved in two U of M centers: the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and the DOE Center for Quantum Materials.
Current research projects include:
- Electrolyte gating of functional materials
- Perovskite films and heterostructures, particularly cobaltites and stannates
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Metallic delafossites
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Spin transport in metals
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Metallic magnetic nanoparticles
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Pyrite photovoltaics