Structure and Magnetism of Materials

Introduction

Our research covers a wide range of materials science, from quite fundamental studies of the unusual properties of two-dimensional magnetic systems to the very applied use of neutron scattering in studying problems encountered in manufacturing metal components and in optimising engineering materials. In between, we explore the properties and structures of technologically relevant oxide ceramics, and use diffuse scattering of X-rays, neutrons and electrons to better understand the local (nanoscale if you like) ordering in solids, with a particular emphasis on oxide ceramics and molecular crystals.
     The work on short-range order (SRO) is done in conjunction with the Disordered Materials group in the Research School of Chemistry at ANU.
     The work on oxides ceramics is done in conjunction with the Solid State Inorganic Chemistry (Materials Chemistry) group in the RSC, while magnetic studies, whether on oxides or other materials, are done in collaboration with the School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences at the ADFA campus of the University of New South Wales.
     The work on optimising engineering materials is done in conjunction with a range of collaborators including colleagues from the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science and Ceramet Technologies.
     Throughout our work, a common thread is the link between materials' properties and diffraction, and particularly X-ray and neutron diffraction. The X-ray work is done primarily at the ANU, with experimental visits to synchrotrons around Australia and the world when necessary. Much of the neutron diffraction is done at the Bragg Institute. The Bragg Institute, based at ANSTO, offers many opportunities to students, including year-long internships and postgraduate co-supervision and collaboration. Other neutron work is done at the ISIS neutron source in the UK, and elsewhere around the world.

Group leader, Darren Goossens, was until recently an Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Research Fellow. AINSE provides access to nuclear-related science for Australia-based researchers. They offer post graduate awards as well as providing the link to ANSTO.

Research projects on offer

These documents are fairly broad in scope. Individual projects can be tailored to suit the student's preferences, and I am always happy to talk about possible projects. Projects can vary from those suitable for an undergraduate research topic (for example as part of ENGN4200, CHEM3060 Research Project in Chemistry or PHYS3045 Research Topics Physics and similar subjects), through honours projects to full Ph.D. projects, and can range from highly experimental to predominantly computational. Projects include opportunities to develop skills in: collecting data at a range of local, national and international facilities; synthesising samples using a wide range of techniques; characterising samples using a range of structural techniques such as X-ray, neutron and electron diffraction, as well as physical properties measurements; modelling of data using high performance computing.
Disorder and Diffuse Scattering
Magnetism in Two Dimensions
Technological Oxides
Developing New Modelling Methods
Understanding the Formation of Metal Injection Moulded Components

Research interests

Disorder in Materials is a very common phenomenon. It occurs in molecular crystals, ceramic oxides, metals -- almost every type of material. In crystalline materials disorder means local departures from the average structure. This could be due to flexing of molecules and frameworks, disordered substitution of atomic species, crystal defects and so on. Indeed, few real systems are really free of disorder. When the disorder is correlated over the short range (nanometres), it results in broad features in the diffraction pattern. Interpreting these allows us to understand the disorder, and gain insight into the physics and chemistry of the material, insights beyond those available when studying only the Bragg peaks in the diffraction pattern, as is most commonly done. Web version of a lecture on diffuse scattering and disorder, presented at ANSTO/AINSE/IAEA Summer School, Dec 2007.

Structure of Oxides: Properties found in oxide materials include superconductivity, ordered magnetism, piezoelectricity and multiferroic behaviour. We use a combination of bulk-property studies (dielectric, magnetic and so on) coupled with detailed structural studies using neutron, X-ray and electron diffraction, to try to make the link between structure and function in such materials. Once this relationship is understood, new materials can be 'designed', with new and improved properties.

Magnetism in Two Dimensions occurs in a range of materials, and is of fundamental interest. We are interested in the interrelationship of critical behaviour, spin dimensionality and the dimensionality of the magnetic system. The types of magnetic ordering present as a function of applied field, temperature and composition, and the effect of magnetic mixing and dilution on the properties and structures are the main areas of study. Key tools include magnetometry and neutron diffraction, as the neutron scatters from the magnetic moment of an atom.

ZMC is a program to model diffuse scattering, particularly from flexible molecules. It has been under steady development.

StrucFact is a program to calculate structure factors for neutron scattering, both nuclear and magnetic. It is very crude and manual but at least simple. Archives contain source code (Fortran90), some documentation and some executables. zip tar.gz

Metal Injection Moulding is powder metallurgy manufacturing process and we are examining the kinetics of phase evolution during sintering of the components by using a combination of neutron diffraction and electron microscopy.

Group members, 2012:

Darren Goossens (Group Leader) - goossens__AT__rsc.anu.edu.au
Marek Paściak (Postdoctoral fellow)
Ross Whitfield (Ph.D. Scholar Understanding nanostructure in lead-containing piezoceramics)
Jessica Hudspeth (Ph.D. Scholar Short-range order in ferroelectric triglycine sulphate)
Basilia Sethu (Engineering, Honours, 2012 Structural evolution of YMnO₃)
Sathyan Pooranachandran (Engineering, Honours, 2012 B site substitution in BiFeO₃)
Chris Weekes (Masters of Chemistry, 2012 Magnetic structure in BiFeO₃ derivatives.)
Ming Teo (Undergraduate Research Project, 2012 The evolution from LaCa₂Fe₃O₈ into La_1/3Ca_2/3MnO₃.)

Former group members:

Jessica Hudspeth (Honours student, 2008 The Structure and Magnetic Properties of Rare-Earth Calcium Ferrates)
Ross Whitfield (Honours student, 2008 Study of phase formation in metal injection moulding through in situ neutron diffraction)
Daniel James (Engineering Honours student, 2009 The Structural and Magnetic Characteristics of M_xM'_1-xPS₃ (M, M' = Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni and Zn))
Shaun Trevena (Engineering Honours student, 2010 Structural Study of Some rare-Earth Ferrates)
Sam Brazier-Hollins (Engineering, Honours, 2011 Magnetic and Structural Characterisation of Metal Phosphorous Chalcogenides)
Lachlan Henderson (Engineering, Honours, 2011 Synthesis and Characterisation of Rare-Earth Oxides)

Past Research Project Students:
Cameron Samuels (synthesis of superconductors).
Nathan Deutcher and John Bartholemew (developing an undergraduate lab on the synthesis of superconductors).
Paul Altin (diffuse scattering from Ibuprofen).
Ross Whitfield (quasicrystals).
Jessica Hudspeth (synthesis and structure of oxyfluorides).
David Hutchinson (diffuse scattering in CMA).
Michael Finlayson (genetic algorithms to find models for diffuse scattering data).
Vicki Hudepohl (diffuse scattering in a polymorphic system).
Emma Anderson (diffuse scattering in terephthalic acid).
Jarrod Dong (synthesis of superconductors)
Sam Brazier-Hollins (synthesising lead-free ferroelectrics).
Juanita Gonzalez-Aguilar (synthesis and structure of LnCa₂Fe₃O₈ family of compounds).
Jarrod Dong (synthesis and magnetism of materials of the MPS₃ family).
Briana Hillman (structural properties of compounds in the MPS_3-xSe_x family)
Céline Seguy (diffuse scattering from flexible polymorphic molecular crystals)
Jarrod Dong (Research Project, 2011 Synthesis of lead-free piezoceramics)

Selected Publications Full List

E.J.Chan and D.J.Goossens, 'Study of the single-crystal X-ray diffuse scattering in paracetamol polymorphs', Acta Cryst. B68 (2012) 80-88, DOI:10.1107/S0108768111046295

D.J.Goossens , R.E.Whitfield and A.J.Studer, 'Optimising Sintering in Metal Injection Moulding Using In Situ Neutron Diffraction', Materials Science Forum 706-709 (2012) 1737-1742. DOI:10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.706-709.1737

T.R.Welberry, D.J.Goossens, E.J.Chan and A.P.Heerdegen, 'Diffuse scattering as an aid to the understanding of polymorphism in pharmaceuticals', Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 43A (2012) 1434-1444. DOI: 10.1007/s11661-011-0719-7

R.E.Whitfield, D.J.Goossens, A.J.Studer and J.S.Forrester, 'Measuring Single Crystal Diffuse Neutron Scattering on the Wombat High Intensity Powder Diffractometer', Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 43A (2012) 1423-1428, DOI: 10.1007/s11661-011-0740-x.

R.E.Whitfield, A.J.Studer and D.J.Goossens, 'Temperature dependence of diffuse scattering in PZN', Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 43A (2012) 1429-1433, DOI: 10.1007/s11661-011-0848-z.

J.M.Hudspeth, G.A.Stewart, A.J.Studer and D.J.Goossens, 'Crystal and Magnetic Structures in Perovskite-related La_1-xCa_xFeO_3-δ (x=0.2, 0.33)', Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 72 (2011) 1543-1547. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpcs.2011.09.014

D.J.Goossens, D. James, J. Dong, R.E.Whitfield, L.Norén and R.L.Withers, 'Local order in layered NiPS₃ and Ni_0.7Mg_0.3PS₃' Journal of Physics: Condens. Matt., 23 (2011) 65401. DOI:10.1088/0953-8984/23/6/065401

D.J.Goossens, A.P.Heerdegen, E.J.Chan and T.R.Welberry, 'Monte Carlo Modelling of Diffuse Scattering from Single Crystals: The Program ZMC', Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 42A (2011) 23-31. DOI: 10.1007/s11661-010-0199-1.

D.J.Goossens, A.J.Studer and Z.H.Stachurski, 'Microstructure of Horseshoe Nails Using Neutron Diffraction', Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 19 (2010) 380-384. DOI:10.1007/s11665-009-9501-z.

D.J.Goossens and T.R.Welberry, 'Diffuse Scattering from Molecular Crystals', pp 181-210 (book chapter), Diffuse Scattering and the Fundamental Properties of Materials, edited by Rozaliya I. Barabash, Gene E. Ice and Patrice E.A. Turchi. Momentum Press, 2009. Print ISBN: 978-1-60650-000-2. E-book ISBN: 978-1-60650-002-6

D.J.Goossens and M.J.Gutmann, 'Revealing how interactions lead to ordering in para-terphenyl', Physical Review Letters, 102 (2009) 015505-1-4.

E.J.Chan, T.R.Welberry, D.J.Goossens, A.P.Heerdegen, A.G.Beasley and P.J.Chupas, 'Single-crystal diffuse scattering studies on polymorphs of molecular crystals. I. The room-temperature polymorphs of the drug benzocaine', Acta Cryst. B65 (2009) 382-392.

J.M.Hudspeth, D.J.Goossens, A.J.Studer, R.L.Withers and L.Norén, 'The crystal and magnetic structures of LaCa₂Fe₃O₈ and NdCa₂Fe₃O₈', J. Phys.: Condens. Matt., 21 (2009) 124206.

T.R.Welberry and D.J.Goossens, 'Different models for the polar nanodomain structure of PZN and other relaxor ferroelectrics', Journal of Applied Crystallography 41 (2008) 606-614.

D.J.Goossens, A.P.Heerdegen, T.R.Welberry and A.G.Beasley, 'The Molecular Conformation of Ibuprofen, C₁₃H₁₈O₂, Through X-ray Diffuse Scattering', International Journal of Pharmaceutics 343 (2007) 59-68.

D.J.Goossens, T.R.Welberry, A.P. Heerdegen and M.J. Gutmann, 'Simultaneous Fitting of X-ray and Neutron Diffuse Scattering Data', Acta Crystallographica A A63 (2007) 30-35.

T.R.Welberry, D.J.Goossens and M.J.Gutmann, 'The Chemical Origin of Polar nano-domains in PbZn_1/3Nb_2/3O₃ (PZN)', Phys. Rev. B 74 (2006) 224108.

R.A.Robinson, D.J.Goossens, M.S.Torikachvili, K.Kakuri and H.Okamura, 'A quantum multi-critical point in CeCu_6-xAu_x', Physica B 385-386 (2006) 38-40.

D.J.Goossens, T.R. Welberry, M.E. Hagen and J.A. Fernandez-Baca, 'Structural phase transition in deuterated benzil C₁₄D₁₀O₂: Neutron inelastic scattering', Phys. Rev. B 73 (2006) 134116.

W.D.Hutchison, D.J.Goossens, K.Nishimura, K.Mori, Y.Isikawa and A.J.Studer, 'Magnetic Structure of TbNiAl₄', J. Magn. & Magn. Mat. 301 (2006) 352-358.

M.James, K.S.Wallwork, R.L.Withers, D.J.Goossens, K.F.Wilson, J.Horvat, X.L.Wang and M.Collela, 'Structure and Magnetism in the Oxygen-Deficient Perovskites Ce_1-xSr_xCoO_3-δ (x ≥ 0.90)', Mat. Res. Bull. 40(8) (2005) 1415-1431.

D.J.Goossens, K.F.Wilson, M.James, A.J.Studer and X.L.Wang, 'Structural and Magnetic Properties of Y_0.33Sr_0.67CoO_2.79', Phys. Rev. B 69 (2004) 134411.

D.J.Goossens, A.R.Wildes, C.Ritter and T.J.Hicks, 'Order and the nature of the spin flop phase transition in MnPS₃' Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 12 (2000) 1845-1854.

D.J.Goossens, A.J.Studer, S.J.Kennedy and T.J.Hicks, 'The impact of magnetic dilution on magnetic order in MnPS₃', Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 12 (2000) 4233-4242.

Updated: Jan 2012 '