Assistant Professor Smallwood publishes findings in ‘Science’

Christopher Smallwood

Christopher Smallwood

San Jose State University Assistant Professor Christopher Smallwood’s latest research appears in Science on Dec. 14. A member of the College of Science Department of Physics and Astronomy, he worked with colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to study the electronic and magnetic properties of the cuprate high-temperature superconductor bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide (Bi2212) using the novel spectroscopic technique of spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES). Their article is entitled “Revealing hidden spin-momentum locking in a high-temperature cuprate superconductor.”

SARPES is a spin-sensitive variation of the more commonly implemented technique of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), which itself is an electron spectroscopy technique based on the photoelectric effect that makes it possible to observe the relationship between the energy and momentum of a material’s electrons [see panel (A) below]. As such, the technique enjoys the distinction of being among the most important modern experimental probes of material properties in existence, providing information on the role of a material as an electrical conductor or insulator, on the presence or absence of topological order, and (in this case) on the propensity of the material to exhibit superconductivity and magnetic order.

Their work is important as superconductivity is an exotic state of matter in which a material’s electrical resistivity drops perfectly to zero at low temperature. Due to the superior way in which electricity can flow in this state, materials exhibiting superconductivity have found their way into a number of applications including nuclear magnetic resonance (MRI) and the technology enabling high-energy particle accelerators. The phenomenon is also of great intrinsic scientific interest as the onset of superconductivity at anomalously high temperatures in copper-oxide-based and iron-based materials remains an unsolved question in condensed matter physics.

Experiments were performed by graduate students Kenneth Gotlieb and Chiu-Yun Lin under the leadership of Professor Alessandra Lanzara at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley. With the spin resolution enabled by SARPES, the study reveals and characterizes magnetic properties of Bi2212 that have gone unnoticed in previous studies [see panel (B), where the blue shading indicates spin polarization; and panel (C) which depicts a theoretically proposed spin texture], and which run counter to some of the prevailing theoretical ideas about the material’s electrical properties. In particular, the findings pose new challenges for the Hubbard model and its variants where the spin-orbit interaction is mostly neglected, and they raise the intriguing question of how cuprate superconductivity emerges in the presence of a nontrivial spin texture, as superconductivity and magnetism are normally considered to be competing forms of long-range electronic order.

Academic Spotlight November 2018: SJSU Celebrates 2018 Authors and Artists with Reception

Photo: Daniel Mitre, BFA and minor in Business, '19 At San Jose State University's Annual Author and Artist Awards guests peruse some of the books published by Spartan faculty members in 2018.

Photo: Daniel Mitre, BFA and minor in Business, ’19
At San Jose State University’s Annual Author and Artist Awards guests peruse some of the books published by Spartan faculty members in 2018.

By David Goll

When they are not preparing the next generation of Silicon Valley students for momentous futures, San Jose State University’s faculty are researching some of the world’s most topical issues.

The published and performed work of more than two dozen San Jose State University faculty members were celebrated during a Nov. 2 ceremony at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. More than 100 people turned up for the event to recognize the efforts involved in editing and authoring scholarly books on topics ranging from politics to 3-D printing to cybersecurity, creating celebrated theater stage design and writing an adaptation of an internationally acclaimed play.

The seventh annual Author and Artist Awards presentation was held in the library’s spacious eighth-floor Grand Reading Room, where 29 pieces by 26 authors and artists were recognized.

“The work you do has such an impact on students,” said Joan Ficke, interim provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, during her welcome remarks. “It benefits all of us. The research is what is actually important. The students follow in your footsteps.”

Of the 26 faculty members recognized, two honorees were asked to make extended presentations of their work.

“Here we are in the spectacular Grand Reading Room, the crowning glory of our library,” said University Library Dean Tracy Elliott said. “The perfect place to honor the best of the best. (They) are the reason San Jose State is considered one of the top public universities for academic research.”

Associate Professor Virginia San Fratello, who teaches Interior Design, presented the book she co-authored entitled Printing Architecture: Innovative Recipes for 3D Printing. She noted it’s now possible to 3D print an entire structure. Taking advantage of the city of Oakland’s liberal review process for small residential units to help combat the housing crisis, San Fratello displayed such a home created by 3D-printed tiles.

She showed striking photographs of more whimsical printed objects, too, including coffee cups and coffee pots made of coffee “flour,” sugar spoons spun out of the granulated sweet stuff, and saltshakers constructed of salt.

“I approach these tasks like a chef in the kitchen,” she said.

Matthew Spangler, an associate professor of Communication Studies, also shared information about his creative work. He first read the book The Kite Runner in 2005. The 2003 novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini detailed the tumultuous political and social events in his native country along with the exodus of refugees from Afghanistan to Pakistan and the United States — including the Bay Area.

The book changed Spangler’s life. He wrote a stage play based on the novel, which was first presented by SJSU students in 2007.

“Thirteen years later, 44 theater groups have done 15 different productions of the play worldwide,” Spangler said, including the theater capital of London last year. Other productions have been presented in Cleveland, Calgary, Tel Aviv, Liverpool and Nottingham. “Over 400,000 people have seen those plays,” he said. “That’s way more than read my scholarly articles and books.”

College deans introduced each of the other authors and artists, sharing a few notes about their scholarly and creative endeavors. See the list of all authors and artists on the library website.