Rising Stars Colloquium: Berit Goodge

Direct real-space mapping of exotic phases in quantum materials Presenter: Berit H. Goodge, Cornell University School of Applied and Engineering Physics

The functional and sometimes exotic properties of all materials – from atomically engineered designer heterostructures to human tooth enamel – can be traced back to the fundamental structures and interactions of their constituent atoms. In crystalline quantum materials, subtle changes to the atomic lattice can give rise to (or suppress) a wide variety of phenomena such as charge density waves, multiferroicity, or superconductivity. Information about the order and disorder of these materials can be extracted with great detail through a suite of scattering and spectroscopic experiments: scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) pushes these measurements to the atomically localized scale. In the recently discovered thin film infinite-layer nickelate superconductors, for example, highly-localized electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in the STEM revealed their Mott-Hubbard electronic character by overcoming sample constraints. With the ability to directly correlate structural and electronic phases with sub-Ångström real-space resolution, STEM experiments also enable direct spatial mapping of coexistence or competition of other exotic phases. In quantum materials, however, one key experimental challenge is the existence of some of the most intriguing phenomena only at non-ambient conditions, requiring external control of variables such as temperature or strain. With ongoing instrumentation developments, including flexible in situ cryogenic sample stages, more sensitive detectors, and higher brightness electron sources, I will demonstrate how we are pushing STEM capabilities to new limits in order to better explore the connections between structure, charge, and function in novel quantum materials.

Bio: Berit Goodge is a PhD Candidate in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell University, where she has also been recognized as a Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science Webb Fellow, a Microscopy and Microanalysis Student Scholar, and a Trevor R. Cuykendall Memorial Outstanding Teaching Assistant. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in physics from Carleton College. Beyond her scientific research, Berit works with the Cornell Center for Materials Research developing K-12 classroom kits to teach concepts of physics, materials, and microscopy and chairs Cornell’s Expanding Your Horizons Conference, an annual event engaging more than 500 middle- and high-school student attendees to encourage the discovery and pursuit of their own passions in STEM.