Stephen Wilson

Professor
Materials Department

Affiliation: Functional & Quantum Materials
University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)
stephendwilson@ucsb.edu

Honors:

Hellman Fellowship
NSF CAREER Award

Education

D. University of Tennessee, Knoxville
S. University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Research Area: Current research interests include studies of phase behavior in strongly correlated electron/quantum materials, new states in spin orbit coupled matter, and harnessing many-body electronic states in functional materials. Specific examples include studies of relativistic Mott materials, unconventional superconductivity, quantum criticality, and new approaches to controlling magnetocaloric and cathode materials. Experimental techniques include neutron and x-ray scattering, bulk electronic properties characterization (e.g. charge transport, heat capacity, magnetic susceptibility, etc.), and bulk single crystal growth.

Kagome metals and their unusual properties.

In this talk, I will discuss interesting new inroads in the study of electronic order within classes of metals built from kagome lattices (networks of corner sharing triangles). Kagome band structures are known to host a series of features such as Dirac crossings, saddle points, and flat bands at select carrier fillings. Tuning the Fermi level about these features has the potential to stabilize a variety of exotic electronic states such as orbital magnetism, bond density wave order, and unconventional superconductivity. A number of new compounds built from kagome lattices with band fillings near their Dirac points and Van Hove singularities have recently been discovered, and I will focus on progress in studying the anomalous properties of these materials. Progress in the field and future directions will be discussed.