Ultra Materials for a Resilient, Smart Electricity Grid (ULTRA)

Director

Robert Nemanich

Lead Institution

Arizona State University

Class

2020-2024

Mission

To achieve extreme electrical properties and phenomena through fundamental understanding of ultra wide bandgap materials – including synthesis and impurity incorporation, electronic structure at interfaces, electron - phonon interactions at high fields, and phonon mediated thermal transport, which will enable a resilient, smart electricity grid.

Partner Institutions

Arizona State
Univ of Alabama - Birmingham
UC Riverside
Cornell
Michigan State
SNL-NM
Stanford
University of Bristol, UK
Rice

Quick Facts

Single Slide Overview
Technical Summary
https://ultracenter.asu.edu/

BES Staff Contact

Aaron Holder

Grand Challenges Addressed

Grand
Challenge #1

Grand
Challenge #5

Transformative Opportunities Addressed

Understanding the Critical Roles of Heterogeneity, Interfaces, and Disorder

Trans. Opp. #2

Revolutionary Advances in Models, Mathematics, Algorithms, Data, and Computing

Trans. Opp. #4

BES Reports Addressed

Microelectronics

Highlights

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Applying a voltage to lanthanum strontium manganite (LSMO) can cause it to separate into distinct regions with dramatically different magnetic properties, as illustrated by the red and blue colors in the above figure.

Tuning Magnetism With Voltage Opens a New Path to Neuromorphic Circuits

Experiments show that applied voltage can dramatically alter the magnetic properties of quantum materials.

A metallic line atop a medium biased at the edge of chaos can provide effective negative resistance for time-varying signals, outputting a larger signal compared to its input. The energy for amplification comes from the static bias applied to the medium.

The “Edge of Chaos” Amplifies Signals Without Transistors

Emulating the edge of chaos of axons enables a metal wire to overcome its resistance without cooling, thereby amplifying signals flowing inside of it.