Exploiting advanced thermodynamic and electronic properties is an efficient way to design experimentally accessible novel materials. Consideration of formation enthalpy and thermodynamic phase diagrams, in which theoretical predictions rely on expensive computational methods, is crucial in predicting stability and synthesizability. In this talk, first, I will present an efficient method with low cost to predict thermodynamic phase diagrams based on formation enthalpy and Gibbs energy calculations. Next, I will share how this method can be employed to design experimentally accessible new topological phases and how different material engineering approaches—e.g., strain and thickness—can be used to investigate the controllability of these topological states.

Bio: Demet Usanmaz is an Assistant Professor of Physics in the Department of Natural Sciences at the Kettering University. She earned her Ph.D. in Physics at Gazi University in Turkey and moved to the University of Exeter, UK as a postdoctoral researcher. Before her current position, she was a postdoctoral associate at the Center for Autonomous Materials Design in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University. Dr. Usanmaz's current research focuses on designing new materials for clean energy and spintronics applications by investigating materials' thermodynamic and electronic properties using high-throughput ab initio methods. She received an NSF LEAPS-MPS award in 2023.