Materials in fields: spectroscopic investigation of stress and electrical response of materials

The proposed program will target innovations in the chemistry and physics of materials in the presence of external fields. We seek to capitalize on our recent discovery of lead-free zero stress optic glasses, by extending our research into the wavelength dependence of the stress optic effect, and into sulfide glasses in addition to oxide glasses. These two advances will lead to families of broad-band zero stress optic glasses, suitable for both the visible and infrared spectral regions. Such glasses will find application in image reproduction, including some television designs, and also glasses used in fiber-optic commuication. We will also develop new magnetic resonance methodology for studying materials in the presence of electric fields, and use it to probe the degradation pathways of materials used in lithium ion batteries. The result of this phase of the work is anticipated to be the discovery of new materials for longer-life rechargeable batteries. Finally, we will develop improved computational methods for the calculation of magnetic resonance observables, which will be applicable to all the materials studied here. These methods will be implemented in an open-source framework, thus giving access to a diverse range of materials scientists seeking to use magnetic resonance methods.