CMSP Seminar Series @ICTP Thursday 23 May at 11am - Claude EDERER

[CM Section]

Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics Seminar Series

Thursday 23 May at 11:00 a.m.
Luigi Stasi Seminar Room, first floor, Leonardo building

Claude EDERER, Materials Theory, ETH Zurich

'First-principles-based Calculations of Caloric Effects in Ferroelectrics
and Multiferroics'

Abstract:
So-called ferro-caloric effects, i.e. a change of temperature under
application of an external field, are currently under intense investigation
as a potential solution for future solid-state cooling devices, which
promise to be more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly than
currently used devices. These effects are particularly strong in ferroic
materials close to the ferroic ordering temperatures, where modest fields
can lead to huge entropy changes by ordering electric or magnetic dipoles
or other orientational degrees of freedom. Here, I will show how 
first-principles-
based calculations can be used to explore ways for optimizing the caloric
response of ferroelectric materials, and I will discuss the possibility 
to use
cross-caloric effects in multiferroics such as strained SrMnO3, where the
magnetic and ferroelectric ordering temperatures can be tuned to coincide