MSE Spring Seminar Series: Professor Julia Dshemuchadse

Description

Emerging crystalline order in self-assembly simulations of complex structures

Julia Dshemuchadse

Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Cornell University

Abstract: Crystal structures of increasing diversity and complexity have been discovered over decades of structural research, in both hard and soft condensed materials, stretching from atomic to mesoscopic length scales. On all scales, the complexity spectrum spans from the simplest sphere packings to structure types with large unit cells or even aperiodic crystals. Moreover, the same intricate crystal structures can be observed in disparate materials systems, implying that general principles of structure formation underlie the processes of crystal growth and stabilization. We study the assembly and structural features of complex crystals via numerical simulations, in order to investigate the emergence of long-range order from short-range interactions. By employing simple coarse-grained models, we gain systematic insights into the phenomena that lead to the crystallization of complex types of order, with the ultimate aim to generate a deeper understanding of structure formation. Building on the resulting, predictive knowledge of the system parameters that govern the formation of ordered or disordered, complex or simple, isotropic or highly anisotropic structures, the design of tailored, functional materials will be possible in the future.

Bio: Dr. Julia Dshemuchadse received her Diploma degree in Physics from TU Dresden, Germany, and her PhD in Materials Science from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where she conducted crystallographic studies of complex intermetallic compounds. As a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Dshemuchadse joined the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor on a fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation and performed computational research of soft matter self-assembly behavior. Dr. Dshemuchadse joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell University as an Assistant Professor in 2019. Her group studies abstract model systems to reveal the fundamental principles of crystal structure formation and stability. Dr. Dshemuchadse co-authored a book entitled “Intermetallics – Structures, Properties, and Statistics”, published in 2016 by Oxford University Press. She was awarded an NSF CAREER Award in 2021, as well as a Machine Learning in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Award by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation and a Doctoral New Investigator Grant by the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund in 2022.