Dr. Yang Li from Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, visited
our group on May 10, 2005. He gave a seminar on "Magnetism and
Superconductivity of Novel Clathrate Materials". In this talk, Dr. Li
presented a joint experimental and theoretical study of magnetism,
superconductivity, structural properties in type-I and type-IX 3d-doped
silicon clathrates and germanium clathrates. The clathrate materials
with sp3 hybridized networks have received increasing
attention over the past a few years. Clathrates with an open
network are tailorable materials containing polyhedral cages which can
capture metal atoms by a self-assembling. These materaisl exhibit a wide
variety of properties ranging from insulators to metals, which depending
upon the captured metals and occupation fraction. The different
properties also can be obtained by doping other kinds of atoms.
Discovery of superconductivity, thermoelectric application, potential
optical materials, potential magnetic sensor and semiconductor have
further stimulated much interest in these novel materials.
