Rico Friedrich - TU Dresden
Surface Science (O), Magnetism (MA)
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© Fotoaktivität – Bastian Krüger |
Research Agenda: The realization of physical phenomena and functionalities as well as any technology rely on a certain materials platform. Autonomous computational materials physics aims at the self-guided, data-driven discovery and design of compounds. In my group, this approach is employed to study two-dimensional (2D) materials and high-entropy compounds for applications in information technology and the energy sector.
We leverage and develop state-of-the-art computational materials science methods and target three main research directions:
(i) The discovery and design of 2D materials and their heterostructures - an emerging nanoscale platform for advanced electronic and magnetic functionalities.
(ii) The data-driven modelling and prediction of novel high-entropy ceramics based on maximizing entropy instead of minimizing enthalpy.
(iii) Computational method development for the accurate description of ionic materials as provided by the coordination corrected enthalpies (CCE) method.
Short Bio: In 2016, I completed my PhD in physics under the supervision of Stefan Blügel on the molecular based design of surface magnetic properties for spintronics at Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen. From 2017 to 2021 I was a postdoctoral fellow supported by a Feodor Lynen research fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation with Stefano Curtarolo at Duke University, United States. There I worked on the efficient data-driven prediction of the thermodynamic stability of materials. In 2020, I joined the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf as Humboldt fellow and postdoctoral researcher working on the data-driven design of novel 2D materials. Since 2022 I am group leader of the Dresden-concept junior research group “Autonomous Materials Thermodynamics – AutoMaT” jointly supported by TU Dresden and HZDR. I am also Adjunct Professor at the Center for Extreme Materials at Duke University since 2022.