Emilia Morosan
· ProfessorVerifiedRice University · Physics
Active 2003–2026
About
Professor Emilia Morosan leads the Morosan Research Group at Rice University, focusing on the design and synthesis of quantum materials with emergent properties. Her research encompasses unconventional topological fermions, including Kramers-Weyl and multi-degenerate types, as well as spin textures such as skyrmions. The group also investigates superconductivity, density waves, Kondo materials, and complex structures involving two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. Employing techniques such as solid state synthesis, vapor transport, and flux crystal growth, Professor Morosan's team aims to discover new compounds that exhibit exceptional physical phenomena and hold potential for practical applications. Throughout her career, she has been recognized for her contributions, including being named the William M. Rice Trustee Professor and receiving the prestigious Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship. Her group actively engages with graduate and undergraduate students, providing training in crystal growth, thermodynamic and transport characterization, and access to specialized national and international laboratory techniques.
Research topics
- Physics
- Materials science
- Condensed matter physics
- Optoelectronics
- Nanotechnology
- Quantum mechanics
Selected publications
Science Advances · 2026-03-06
articleOpen accessIn the search for unconventional magnetism, exotic quantum states are characterized by a lack of order and a broad spin excitation continuum approaching zero temperature. We study the two-dimensional triangular-lattice effective spin-[Formula: see text] system CeMgAl<sub>11</sub>O<sub>19</sub>, which shows slight disorder but no magnetic ordering down to 100 millikelvin. Spin-wave analysis in the magnetic-field-polarized state determines the spin Hamiltonian featuring a mixed ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor exchange interaction [[Formula: see text] = -0.024(5) milli-electron volts, [Formula: see text] = 0.056(3) milli-electron volts]. This places the system near an exactly solvable point of the spin-[Formula: see text] triangular-lattice <i>XXZ</i> model ([Formula: see text]) with extensive ground-state degeneracy. In zero field, neutron spectroscopy reveals a prominent continuum; we show that this arises from an ensemble average of spin-wave spectra across the degenerate ground-state manifold. This demonstrates that the role of weak quenched disorder can be quantitatively constrained: It inhibits unique ground-state selection and stabilizes a local distribution within the degenerate manifold, yielding continuum-like spectra that necessitate a critical reevaluation of the experimental signatures of exotic quantum states.
Uniaxial strain tuned magnetism of the altermagnet candidate h-FeS
arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-02-16
articleOpen accessAltermagnets are collinear magnetic materials with 'alter'nating local crystalline environments, characterized by joint spin and crystalline symmetries that enable ferromagnetic-like transport properties but with vanishing net magnetization. Hexagonal FeS (h-FeS) is a recently identified altermagnet candidate that shows a spontaneous anomalous Hall effect (AHE) accompanied by a tiny net magnetization. Here, we show that both the spontaneous AHE and magnetization can be effectively suppressed by an in-plane compressive strain. Since neutron diffraction measurements show that the applied uniaxial strain only modifies the in-plane domain population but does not affect the in-plane magnetic structure, the major effect of the applied strain is to tune the small $c$-axis ferromagnetic moment. Our results demonstrate a strong correlation between the tiny net magnetization and the spontaneous AHE in h-FeS, and show that uniaxial strain provides an effective knob to tune both properties in this altermagnet candidate for spintronic applications.
Atomically-sharp magnetic soliton in the square-net lattice EuRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$
Open MIND · 2026-02-10
preprintSenior authorTopological spin textures are hallmark manifestations of competing interactions in magnetic matter. Their effective description by nonlinear field theories reflects an energetic frustration that destabilizes uniform order while selecting finite-size, topologically nontrivial configurations as stationary states. Among the most extreme realizations are atomically-sharp domain wall excitations, namely one-dimensional (1D) magnetic solitons, which represent the ultimate scaling limit of magnetic textures. Such solitons may emerge in magnetic systems where effective exchange interactions compete directly with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. Here we show that the square-net rare earth compound EuRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ realizes a very susceptible regime where the magnetic anisotropy competes with highly frustrated exchange interactions stabilizing a rare ferrimagnetic $\uparrow\uparrow\downarrow$ state that, under applied magnetic field, supports the formation of atomically-sharp soliton defects. We confirm the bulk response of the 1D magnetic solitons via magnetization and electrical transport measurements. We establish both the zero- and in-field $\uparrow\uparrow\downarrow$ order via neutron diffraction, while magnetic force microscopy visualizes its real-space evolution into a stripe-like array. To elucidate the microscopic origin of the soliton, we relate the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY)-driven exchange interactions and the magnetic anisotropy through density functional theory, and we construct an effective 1D $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$-$K$ model whose atomistic spin dynamics simulations reproduce the observed soliton states as a function of external field. Our results demonstrate that EuRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ hosts atomically-sharp, field-driven 1D magnetic solitons, providing a new platform for studying 1D topological excitations at the atomic length scale.
Uniaxial strain tuned magnetism of the altermagnet candidate h-FeS
Open MIND · 2026-02-16
preprintAltermagnets are collinear magnetic materials with 'alter'nating local crystalline environments, characterized by joint spin and crystalline symmetries that enable ferromagnetic-like transport properties but with vanishing net magnetization. Hexagonal FeS (h-FeS) is a recently identified altermagnet candidate that shows a spontaneous anomalous Hall effect (AHE) accompanied by a tiny net magnetization. Here, we show that both the spontaneous AHE and magnetization can be effectively suppressed by an in-plane compressive strain. Since neutron diffraction measurements show that the applied uniaxial strain only modifies the in-plane domain population but does not affect the in-plane magnetic structure, the major effect of the applied strain is to tune the small $c$-axis ferromagnetic moment. Our results demonstrate a strong correlation between the tiny net magnetization and the spontaneous AHE in h-FeS, and show that uniaxial strain provides an effective knob to tune both properties in this altermagnet candidate for spintronic applications.
Atomically-sharp magnetic soliton in the square-net lattice EuRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$
ArXiv.org · 2026-02-10
articleOpen accessSenior authorTopological spin textures are hallmark manifestations of competing interactions in magnetic matter. Their effective description by nonlinear field theories reflects an energetic frustration that destabilizes uniform order while selecting finite-size, topologically nontrivial configurations as stationary states. Among the most extreme realizations are atomically-sharp domain wall excitations, namely one-dimensional (1D) magnetic solitons, which represent the ultimate scaling limit of magnetic textures. Such solitons may emerge in magnetic systems where effective exchange interactions compete directly with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. Here we show that the square-net rare earth compound EuRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ realizes a very susceptible regime where the magnetic anisotropy competes with highly frustrated exchange interactions stabilizing a rare ferrimagnetic $\uparrow\uparrow\downarrow$ state that, under applied magnetic field, supports the formation of atomically-sharp soliton defects. We confirm the bulk response of the 1D magnetic solitons via magnetization and electrical transport measurements. We establish both the zero- and in-field $\uparrow\uparrow\downarrow$ order via neutron diffraction, while magnetic force microscopy visualizes its real-space evolution into a stripe-like array. To elucidate the microscopic origin of the soliton, we relate the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY)-driven exchange interactions and the magnetic anisotropy through density functional theory, and we construct an effective 1D $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$-$K$ model whose atomistic spin dynamics simulations reproduce the observed soliton states as a function of external field. Our results demonstrate that EuRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ hosts atomically-sharp, field-driven 1D magnetic solitons, providing a new platform for studying 1D topological excitations at the atomic length scale.
Evidence for itinerant electron-local moment interaction in Li-doped $α$-MnTe
ArXiv.org · 2025-11-30
preprintOpen accessWe use inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to study the impact of Li doping on the semiconducting altermagnet $α$-MnTe. Introducing Li results in a spin reorientation from in-plane to out-of-plane direction and increases the density of itinerant carriers. While our ARPES measurements do not indicate any notable doping-induced changes in the electronic band structure or the magnitude of the altermagnetic band splitting, our INS measurements reveal an abrupt carrier-induced decrease in the spin wave lifetime near the zone boundary at high energies. This finding is consistent with a new magnon decay channel driven by doping-induced subtle changes in the band structure and enhanced interactions between Mn$^{2+}$ local moments and itinerant electrons. By extracting the local dynamic susceptibility from INS spectra and applying the total moment sum rule, we find that both undoped and Li-doped $α$-MnTe exhibit the full expected Mn$^{2+}$ local moment of $\approx5.9~μ_\mathrm{B}$ with $S=5/2$. These findings suggest that $α$-MnTe hosts robust local-moment altermagnetism which shows a breakdown at high energies upon addition of itinerant carriers, highlighting the importance of carrier-spin coupling in magneto-transport and spin dynamic properties of altermagnets even in the dilute-carrier limit.
Physical Review Research · 2025-09-15
articleOpen accessSenior authorA Berry phase of odd multiples of <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <a:mi>π</a:mi> </a:math> inferred from quantum oscillations (QOs) has often been treated as evidence for nontrivial reciprocal space topology. However, disentangling the Berry phase values from the Zeeman effect and the orbital magnetic moment is often challenging. In centrosymmetric compounds, the case is simpler as the orbital magnetic moment contribution is negligible. Although the Zeeman effect can be significant, it is usually overlooked in most studies of QOs in centrosymmetric compounds. Here, we present a detailed study on the nonmagnetic centrosymmetric <b:math xmlns:b="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <b:msub> <b:mi>SrGa</b:mi> <b:mn>2</b:mn> </b:msub> </b:math> and <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <c:msub> <c:mi>BaGa</c:mi> <c:mn>2</c:mn> </c:msub> </c:math> , which are predicted to be Dirac nodal line semimetals based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Evidence of the nontrivial topology is found in magnetotransport measurements. The Fermi surface topology and band structure are carefully studied through a combination of angle-dependent QOs, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), and DFT calculations, where the nodal line is observed in the vicinity of the Fermi level. Strong de Haas–van Alphen fundamental oscillations associated with higher harmonics are observed in both compounds, which are well fitted by the Lifshitz-Kosevich (LK) formula. However, even with the inclusion of higher harmonics in the fitting, we found that the Berry phases cannot be unambiguously determined when the Zeeman effect is included. We revisit the LK formula and analyze the phenomena and outcomes that were associated with the Zeeman effect in previous studies. Our experimental results confirm that <d:math xmlns:d="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <d:msub> <d:mi>SrGa</d:mi> <d:mn>2</d:mn> </d:msub> </d:math> and <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <e:msub> <e:mi>BaGa</e:mi> <e:mn>2</e:mn> </e:msub> </e:math> are Dirac nodal line semimetals. Additionally, we highlight the often overlooked role of spin-damping terms in Berry phase analysis.
Anomalous Electrical Transport in the Kagome Magnet YbFe$_6$Ge$_6$
arXiv (Cornell University) · 2025-04-16
preprintOpen accessTwo-dimensional (2D) kagome metals offer a unique platform for exploring electron correlation phenomena derived from quantum many-body effects. Here, we report a combined study of electrical magnetotransport and neutron scattering on YbFe$_6$Ge$_6$, where the Fe moments in the 2D kagome layers exhibit an $A$-type collinear antiferromagnetic order below $T_{\rm{N}} \approx 500$ K. Interactions between the Fe ions in the layers and the localized Yb magnetic ions in between reorient the $c$-axis aligned Fe moments to the kagome plane below $T_{\rm{SR}} \approx 63$ K. Our magnetotransport measurements show an intriguing anomalous Hall effect (AHE) that emerges in the spin-reorientated collinear state, accompanied by the closing of the spin anisotropy gap as revealed from inelastic neutron scattering. The gapless spin excitations and the Yb-Fe interaction are able to support a dynamic scalar spin chirality, which explains the observed AHE. Therefore, our study demonstrates spin fluctuations may provide an additional scattering channel for the conduction electrons and give rise to AHE even in a collinear antiferromagnet.
Physical review. B./Physical review. B · 2025-12-22
articleSenior authorPhysical review. B./Physical review. B · 2025-04-21 · 1 citations
articleDetermining the electronic phase diagram of a quantum material as a function of temperature ($T$) and applied magnetic field ($H$) forms the basis for understanding the microscopic origin of transport properties, such as the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and topological Hall effect (THE). For many magnetic quantum materials, including $\mathrm{Eu}{\mathrm{Al}}_{4}$, a THE arises from a topologically protected magnetic skyrmion lattice with a nonzero scalar spin chirality. We identified a square skyrmion lattice (sSkL) peak in $\mathrm{Eu}{({\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Al}}_{x})}_{4}$ ($x=0.9$) identical to the peak previously observed in $\mathrm{Eu}{\mathrm{Al}}_{4}$ by performing neutron-scattering measurements throughout the phase diagram. Comparing these neutron results with transport measurements, we found that in both compounds the maximal THE does not correspond to the sSkL area. Instead of the maximal THE, the maximal magnetocaloric-effect boundaries better identify the sSkL lattice phase observed by neutron-scattering measurements. The maximal THE therefore arises from interactions of itinerant electrons with frustrated spin fluctuations in a topologically trivial magnetic state.
Recent grants
Spin fluctuations in itinerant electron systems
NSF · $441k · 2015–2019
Frustration and Spin Fluctuations in Itinerant Magnets
NSF · $581k · 2019–2024
NSF · $445k · 2016–2022
CAREER: Spin Fluctuation in Itinerant Electron Magnetic Systems
NSF · $550k · 2009–2015
Frequent coauthors
- 65 shared
P. C. Canfield
- 51 shared
C.-L. Huang
National Cheng Kung University
- 41 shared
Sergey L. Bud’ko
- 40 shared
R. J. Cava
- 30 shared
Andriy H. Nevidomskyy
- 28 shared
Theo Siegrist
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
- 27 shared
Jaime M. Moya
- 25 shared
Macy Stavinoha
Rice University
Labs
Education
- 2007
Postdoc, Chemistry
Princeton University
- 2005
PhD, Physics and Astronomy
Iowa State University
- 1999
BS, Physocs
Universitatea Al. I. Cuza
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