2011 Alice in Wonderland Summer Program Alex Demkov, University of Texas at Austin, DMR 0548182

1. Integration of ferromagnetism with Si (001) Alex Demkov, University of Texas at Austin, DMR 0548182 First principles calculations suggest that a ferromagnetic ground state can be stabilized in LaCoO3 by a sufficiently large biaxial tensile strain. Using theoretical results as guidance, we have grown epitaxial strained LaCoO3 on (100)-oriented silicon by molecular beam epitaxy using a relaxed epitaxial SrTiO3 buffer layer. Superconducting quantum interference device magnetization measurements show that, unlike the bulk material, the ground state of the strained LaCoO3 on silicon is ferromagnetic with a TC of 85 K. This work has potential applications in Si spintronics that is information technology where information is carried not just by charge but also spin of the electron.

2. 2011 Alice in Wonderland Summer ProgramAlex Demkov, University of Texas at Austin, DMR 0548182 2011 is the sixth year of the Alice in Wonderland (AIW) Summer Program for Girls with a specific goal of attracting young women to the field of physics. Over the last five years we have been contacted by students from several Austin high schools, and even by young women from faraway places such as San Antonio, Seattle and Atlanta! Twelve students participated in the program in 2011. Each female student receives a Fellowship of $1,000. In the end of the summer we have a workshop, where the participants make presentations about their summer research. The event is attended by the students, their mentors and most importantly parents. All AIW go to colleges across the nation and many do chose physics.