Building atoms into functional oxides: Using experiment coupled to theory to search for new energy materials

The energy challenges of today necessitate the need to create new classes of materials that will allow us to meet the needs of the future. Functional oxides based on the transition metal series display a wide spectrum of remarkable properties (magnetism, superconductivity,…) and offer potential important properties for practical applications by harnessing the enormous response of these materials to the change in local environment. Using atomic layer-by-layer growth to create crystal structures offers new routes to control these properties in ways not attainable in the bulk counterparts. Here I will highlight our recent work on functional oxide heterostuctfrures where we are using the connection between theory and experiment to not only create a framework for rational materials design, but to find pathways to more efficiently synthesize novel materials.