Seminars

Seminars occur on Wednesdays from 12:00-1:00 PM Pacific in ISB 130 with a hybrid option over Zoom unless otherwise posted. To join the mailing list, please contact Prof. Christopher Smallwood at christopher.smallwood@sjsu.edu with the words "Seminars and Events" included in the subject heading.

This Week

Polarity and Antipolarity in Materials
Ella Banyas, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Wednesday, 10/22/2025, 12:00-1:00pm Pacific

Headshot of Ella Banyas.Abstract:  Some say that there are two types of materials: polar and nonpolar. But the reality of electrically-ordered materials is richer and more complex than that! In this talk, I will discuss the nature of electric polarization in a crystal, its relationship to symmetry, and the trickiness of defining "antipolarity." Along the way, I will introduce the basic principles of density functional theory, a widely-used method in computational condensed matter physics. I will survey two different application spaces for polar and antipolar materials: high-performance thin-film piezoelectricity and the direct detection of dark matter.

Bio:  Dr. Ella Banyas is a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her research focuses on the computational discovery and characterization of novel materials, with a particular interest in antiferroelectrics. She received her PhD in condensed matter physics from UC Berkeley and her bachelor's degree in physics from Reed College.

AY 2025/2026 Schedule

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