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
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.
