6th European School on Multiferroics (ESMF6)
July 21-26, 2013
Leucorea, Wittenberg (Germany)
Programme is now online!
ESMF6 Programme
ESMF6_Programme.pdf
(189.9 KB) vom 22.05.2013
See here for abstracts!
Scope / Motivation
Both magnetic and ferroelectric materials play a vital role in modern technologies. Besides the traditional utilization of magnetic forces, examples include memory devices in which information is stored in the orientation of magnetization in ferromagnets or polarization in ferroelectrics. The structural distortion that accompanies ferroelectricity or ferromagnetism is exploited in sensing and actuating devices.
Multiferroics are materials with simultaneous presence of magnetic and ferroelectric orders. The magnetoelectric coupling of the two order parameters provides fascinating new phenomena and functionalities, the most well-known example being the low-power electric-field control of magnetization. While magnetoelectric phenomena have been discussed since the 60ies of the 20th century, only the recent decade has seen tremendous progress in theory and design of materials. New single-phase multiferroics have been discovered following the identification of new coupling mechanisms. Thin film and nanostructure fabrication have provided access to a wide spectrum of multiphase systems where a magnetic and a ferroelectric component are coupled at interfaces. The combination of two dominant electronic materials technologies has an enormous potential for transformative device applications.
ESMF6 is the 6th in a series of European Schools on Multiferroics, with previous Schools held in Ascona, L´Aquila, Groningen, Girona and Grenoble. It aims to create a teaching platform for junior researchers in the multiferroics community, in which fundamentals, experimental techniques and recent developments are discussed. By uniting members of the magnetic and ferroelectric communities with their partially different languages and traditions we aim to promote interdisciplinary collaborations and spawn new research directions.
ESMF6 takes place in the historical environment of the city center of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther taught at one of the first universities in Germany and published his famous 95 theses.
Conference Themes
The ESMF schools have all had different emphases to reflect current areas of interest. The focus areas for ESMF6 are:
- Multiferroic thin films and nanostructures, properties of their domains and domain walls
- The coupling mechanisms at interfaces between ferroelectrics and magnets
- Experimental techniques for the characterization of magnetic and ferroelectric thin films and bulk materials
- The coexistence and cross-coupling between long-range orders (magnetic, dipolar, ferroelastic, toroidal) in single phases
- The search for new materials showing strong magneto-electric coupling and / or multiferroicity
- Perspectives for multifunctional applications, including electrically controllable spintronic devices and new ideas beyond electric-field control of magnetization.
