At the frontier between Polar Intermetallic Phases and Incipient Metals – ternary tellurides in the Rare-earth-metal − Ge/Sn/Pb – Tellurium systems

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Simon Steinberg
• Subject Area: Solid State and Surface Chemistry, Material Synthesis
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 511503255

In the quest for novel materials serving as components in future technologies, more recent research proposed a new class of solid-state materials dubbed Incipient Metals. The members of this particular class of materials are expected to show a unique electronic state that is related to the occurrence of many remarkable properties encountered for these solids. And yet, how can this unique electronic state be related to those states typically observed for well-established classes of solids? To answer this question, it will be necessary to manipulate the electronic structure within solid solutions existing between Incipient Metals and Polar Intermetallic Phases. The latter are predestinated for the proposed research project, as a broad variety of electronic structures has been observed for Polar Intermetallics, whose electronic structures do not follow any valence electron counting rules like those of Incipient Metals. Therefore, it is the overall objective of this research project to determine the electronic structures along with the materials properties for series of solid solutions existing in the ternary Rare-earth-metal − Ge/Sn/Pb – Tellurium systems.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants