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SUMMARY:&quot\;Why study insulators?&quot\; - Prof J F Scott\, Earth Scien
 ces Department
DTSTART:20090211T200000Z
DTEND:20090211T210000Z
UID:TALK16880@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Hamish Gordon
DESCRIPTION:Superconductors are probably sexier\; semiconductors more prac
 tical. What is the appeal of insulating materials? Firstly\, most magnets 
 are insulating. Secondly\, all ferroelectrics are insulating (ferroelectri
 cs switch the direction of their electric polarization in an electric fiel
 d in analogy to ferromagnets in a magnetic field). And some rather rare in
 sulators are both magnetic and ferroelectric (multiferroic)\, which gives 
 rise to some new effects\, such as condensers that change their capacitanc
 e by 5\,000% in a magnetic field or computer memories with three-state log
 ic rather than binary. Paradoxically Gilbert showed in 1600 here in the ea
 st of England that magnetism and static electric effects are unrelated phy
 sical phenomena\; I'll try to show that this isn't true. In addition\, in 
 nano-structures most insulators are actually semiconducting (if you make s
 omething thin enough\, it always conducts)\, and how they conduct can be v
 ery interesting. In this talk I will discuss nanostructures and multiferro
 ics.\n
LOCATION:Pharmacology Lecture Theatre
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