Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis
'Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis' is our major tool as the laboratory name indicates. We develop and use calorimetric techniques and thermal analysis methods to study both bulk and film materials. Extensive research efforts are being spent on the theoretical and experimental development of dynamic calorimetry, micro-calorimetry, and scanning probe calorimetry.
X-ray scattering and absorption
We use synchrotron radiation from Pohang Light Source, which is a national facility located in the campus, to probe both bulk and thin films. We take advantage of the following distinct aspects of synchrotron radiation: (1) high intensity (2) energy tunability and (3) the polarized nature.
Amorphous Materials
Glasses and Glass Transition
Understanding the glass transition of a supercooled liquid to an amorphous solid is one of the most challenging problem for the condensed-matter scientists today. The main focus is on revealing the microscopic origin of the slow dynamics associated with the glass transition. We investigate macroscopic aspects of this fundamental problem using the linear and nonlinear relaxation spectroscopies, while the microscopic nature of the system is studied with X-ray diffraction and EXAFS techniques.
Amorphous Ferroelectricity and Magnetism
We use amorphous materials to investigate the basic mechanism of ferroelectricity and itinerant magnetism. We are currently exploring the possibility of finding ferroelectricity in amorphous oxide materials, i.e., ferroelectricity without the reference lattice structure. Since electronic structures of amorphous magnetic materials are relatively simple, our present study focuses on the role of electron-phonon interaction in itinerant magnetism.
Thin Films and Multilayers (POSTECH Multilayer Group)
We endeavor to create new artificial materials via film deposition routes. The technique being used in this laboratory is the Laser Molecular Beam Epitaxy with a high-power pulsed laser source and a UHV chamber. The systems under investigations are
Ferroelectric Oxides, Ferromagnetic Oxides, Superconducting Oxides
Ultrathin Magnetic Films and Multilayers