Virtually every technology is materials-limited. This is true whether you’re flipping open your cell phone to call a friend, exercising to the music on your iPod or saving a missed television show on your digital video recorder.These trendy technologies depend on modern materials. But if you think the need to develop novel, useful materials is limited to electronics, then add to the mix such discoveries as high-temperature superconductors, solid state lasers, conducting polymers, radiation detectors, solar cells and fuel cells. Sadly, the United States is falling behind other countries in developing new materials — at least that’s what Paul Canfield told some of the nation’s top scientists recently.

Canfield, a senior physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and an Iowa State University Distinguished Professor of physics, was an organizer of the 2003 DOE Basic Energy Sciences Workshop, “Future Directions of Design, Discovery and Growth of Single Crystals for Basic Research” held at Ames Laboratory, a world leader in new materials and crystal growth. Participants in that workshop determined the development of novel, new materials to be a “national core competency” necessary for scientific advancement and economic growth. They also concluded that the United States is lagging behind countries such as Japan in its ability to meet the growing demand for high-quality, specialized materials and to maintain international competitiveness in this vital area.

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(from an Ames Laboratory Press Release)

Like the surface motif of a bubble bath, the spatial distribution of a magnetic field penetrating a superconductor can exhibit an intricate, foam-like structure. Ruslan Prozorov at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has observed these mystifying, two-dimensional equilibrium patterns in lead samples when the material is in its superconducting state, below 7.2 Kelvin, or minus 446.71 degrees Fahrenheit.

Through innovative research to relate the complex geometry of the equilibrium patterns to the macroscopic physical properties, such as magnetism, Prozorov has shown that the shape of the entire sample determines the pattern topology and overall magnetic behavior of the system – a significant finding that represents a major contribution to the field of superconductivity.

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(from an Ames Laboratory Press Release)

Joerg Schmalian, senior physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, has been named a recipient of a 2007 Iowa State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Research. Schmalian, who is also an ISU professor of physics and astronomy, is one of only two LAS faculty members to receive the award this year.

The LAS Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Research recognizes faculty members who have a national or international reputation for contributions in research and who have influenced the research activities of students. Schmalian will accept the award at the LAS convocation on Sept. 5.

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