Eirin C. (Sullivan) McBride

My solid state and materials chemistry group investigates the intricate relationships between the crystal structure of non-molecular inorganic solids and their physical properties such as photoluminescence, magnetic ordering and pigmentation.  Materials exhibiting the perovskite structure have been studied extensively due to the diverse range of useful physical properties they exhibit, from superconductivity to the photovoltaic effect.  In contrast, relatively little research has focused on anti-perovskites, where the positions of the anions and cations are switched. The investigation of mixed metal oxyfluoride materials as opposed to oxides provides an additional avenue to discover unique functional materials. The presence of both oxygen and fluorine anions with dissimilar charges can be exploited to control the oxidation state of a transition metal present in the compound and crystallographic order/disorder of oxygen and fluorine or the presence of anion defects often directly impacts optical or electromagnetic behavior.