Correlated electronic systems, or materials in which electrons show cooperative effects rather than acting independently, are of interest not only for elucidating the origin of emergent behavior arising from simple components, but also due to the practical applications of the resulting physical phenomena. In this talk, I will first discuss how our development of new 'soft chemistry' methods for the preparation of meta- or kinetically-stable solids, when combined with modern pair distribution function techniques for determining local structure, is allowing us to finally begin to understand how correlated states, such as superconductivity, arise from local interactions of charge, orbital, and spin degrees of freedom. Specific examples will be drawn from our work on the nature of electronic mass enhancement in KNi2(S/Se)2, the origin of superconductivity in the ternary Bi-O-S system, and recent results on how chemistry can be used to discover new, and more versatile, 'topological materials.

Emergent quantum phenomena from new chemistry and new materials

246th National Meeting (2013)

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