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Sergei V. Kalinin

Publications and source records attributed to Sergei V. Kalinin.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Hypothesis Learning in Automated Experiment: Application to Combinatorial Materials Libraries

Machine learning is rapidly becoming an integral part of experimental physical discovery via automated and high-throughput synthesis, and active experiments in scattering and electron/probe microscopy. This, in turn, necessitates the development of active learning methods capable of exploring relevant parameter spaces with the smallest number of steps. Here we introduce an active learning approach based on co-navigation of the hypothesis and experimental spaces. This is realized by combining the structured Gaussian Processes containing probabilistic models of the possible system's behaviors (hypotheses) with reinforcement learning policy refinement (discovery). This approach closely resembles classical human-driven physical discovery, when several alternative hypotheses realized via models with adjustable parameters are tested during an experiment. We demonstrate this approach for exploring concentration-induced phase transitions in combinatorial libraries of Sm-doped BiFeO3 using Piezoresponse Force Microscopy, but it is straightforward to extend it to higher-dimensional parameter spaces and more complex physical problems once the experimental workflow and hypothesis-generation are available.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Automated experiment in 4D-STEM: exploring emergent physics and structural behaviors

Automated experiments in 4D Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy are implemented for rapid discovery of local structures, symmetry-breaking distortions, and internal electric and magnetic fields in complex materials. Deep kernel learning enables active learning of the relationship between local structure and a 4D-STEM based descriptors. With this, efficient and "intelligent" probing of dissimilar structural elements to discover desired physical functionality is made possible. This approach allows effective navigation of the sample in an automated fashion guided by either a pre-determined physical phenomenon, such as strongest electric field magnitude, or in an exploratory fashion. We verify the approach first on pre-acquired 4D-STEM data, and further implement it experimentally on an operational STEM. The experimental discovery workflow is demonstrated using graphene, and subsequently extended towards a lesser-known layered 2D van der Waal material, MnPS3. This approach establishes a paradigm for physics-driven automated 4D-STEM experiments that enable probing the physics of strongly correlated systems and quantum materials and devices, as well as exploration of beam sensitive materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Physics is the New Data

The rapid development of machine learning (ML) methods has fundamentally affected numerous applications ranging from computer vision, biology, and medicine to accounting and text analytics. Until now, it was the availability of large and often labeled data sets that enabled significant breakthroughs. However, the adoption of these methods in classical physical disciplines has been relatively slow, a tendency that can be traced to the intrinsic differences between correlative approaches of purely data-based ML and the causal hypothesis-driven nature of physical sciences. Furthermore, anomalous behaviors of classical ML necessitate addressing issues such as explainability and fairness of ML. We also note the sequence in which deep learning became mainstream in different scientific disciplines - starting from medicine and biology and then towards theoretical chemistry, and only after that, physics - is rooted in the progressively more complex level of descriptors, constraints, and causal structures available for incorporation in ML architectures. Here we put forth that over the next decade, physics will become a new data, and this will continue the transition from dot-coms and scientific computing concepts of the 90ies to big data of 2000-2010 to deep learning of 2010-2020 to physics-enabled scientific ML.

physics.data-an↗

Active learning in open experimental environments: selecting the right information channel(s) based on predictability in deep kernel learning

Active learning methods are rapidly becoming the integral component of automated experiment workflows in imaging, materials synthesis, and computation. The distinctive aspect of many experimental scenarios is the presence of multiple information channels, including both the intrinsic modalities of the measurement system and the exogenous environment and noise signals. One of the key tasks in experimental studies is hence establishing which of these channels is predictive of the behaviors of interest. Here we explore the problem of discovery of the optimal predictive channel for structure-property relationships (in microscopy) using deep kernel learning for modality selection in an active experiment setting. We further pose that this approach can be directly applicable to similar active learning tasks in automated synthesis and the discovery of quantitative structure-activity relations in molecular systems.

cs.LG↗

Electron-beam Introduction of Heteroatomic Pt-Si Structures in Graphene

Electron-beam (e-beam) manipulation of single dopant atoms in an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope is emerging as a method for directed atomic motion and atom-by-atom assembly. Until now, the dopant species have been limited to atoms closely matched to carbon in terms of ionic radius and capable of strong covalent bonding with carbon atoms in the graphene lattice. In situ dopant insertion into a graphene lattice has thus far been demonstrated only for Si, which is ubiquitously present as a contaminant in this material. Here, we achieve in situ manipulation of Pt atoms and their insertion into the graphene host matrix using the e-beam deposited Pt on graphene as a host system. We further demonstrate a mechanism for stabilization of the Pt atom, enabled through the formation of Si-stabilized Pt heteroatomic clusters attached to the graphene surface. This study provides evidence toward the universality of the e-beam assembly approach, opening a pathway for exploring cluster chemistry through direct assembly.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Physical discovery in representation learning via conditioning on prior knowledge: applications for ferroelectric domain dynamics

Recent advances in electron, scanning probe, optical, and chemical imaging and spectroscopy yield bespoke data sets containing the information of structure and functionality of complex systems. In many cases, the resulting data sets are underpinned by low-dimensional simple representations encoding the factors of variability within the data. The representation learning methods seek to discover these factors of variability, ideally further connecting them with relevant physical mechanisms. However, generally the task of identifying the latent variables corresponding to actual physical mechanisms is extremely complex. Here, we explore an approach based on conditioning the data on the known (continuous) physical parameters, and systematically compare it with the previously introduced approach based on the invariant variational autoencoders. The conditional variational autoencoders (cVAE) approach does not rely on the existence of the invariant transforms, and hence allows for much greater flexibility and applicability. Interestingly, cVAE allows for limited extrapolation outside of the original domain of the conditional variable. However, this extrapolation is limited compared to the cases when true physical mechanisms are known, and the physical factor of variability can be disentangled in full. We further show that introducing the known conditioning results in the simplification of the latent distribution if the conditioning vector is correlated with the factor of variability in the data, thus allowing to separate relevant physical factors. We initially demonstrate this approach using 1D and 2D examples on a synthetic dataset and then extend it to the analysis of experimental data on ferroelectric domain dynamics visualized via Piezoresponse Force Microscopy.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Dynamic control of ferroionic states in ferroelectric nanoparticles

The polar states of uniaxial ferroelectric nanoparticles interacting with a surface system of electronic and ionic charges with a broad distribution of mobilities is explored, which corresponds to the experimental case of nanoparticles in solution or ambient conditions. The nonlinear interactions between the ferroelectric dipoles and surface charges with slow relaxation dynamics in an external field lead to the emergence of a broad range of paraelectric-like, antiferroelectric-like ionic, and ferroelectric-like ferroionic states. The crossover between these states can be controlled not only by the static characteristics of the surface charges, but also by their relaxation dynamics in the applied field. Obtained results are not only promising for advanced applications of ferroelectric nanoparticles in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics, they also offer strategies for experimental verification.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Discovering mechanisms for materials microstructure optimization via reinforcement learning of a generative model

The design of materials structure for optimizing functional properties and potentially, the discovery of novel behaviors is a keystone problem in materials science. In many cases microstructural models underpinning materials functionality are available and well understood. However, optimization of average properties via microstructural engineering often leads to combinatorically intractable problems. Here, we explore the use of the reinforcement learning (RL) for microstructure optimization targeting the discovery of the physical mechanisms behind enhanced functionalities. We illustrate that RL can provide insights into the mechanisms driving properties of interest in a 2D discrete Landau ferroelectrics simulator. Intriguingly, we find that non-trivial phenomena emerge if the rewards are assigned to favor physically impossible tasks, which we illustrate through rewarding RL agents to rotate polarization vectors to energetically unfavorable positions. We further find that strategies to induce polarization curl can be non-intuitive, based on analysis of learned agent policies. This study suggests that RL is a promising machine learning method for material design optimization tasks, and for better understanding the dynamics of microstructural simulations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Discovering Invariant Spatial Features in Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy Images on the Mesoscopic and Atomic Levels

Over the last two decades, Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) imaging with a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) has emerged as a technique of choice for visualizing complex chemical, electronic, plasmonic, and phononic phenomena in complex materials and structures. The availability of the EELS data necessitates the development of methods to analyze multidimensional datasets with complex spatial and energy structures. Traditionally, the analysis of these data sets has been based on analysis of individual spectra, one at a time, whereas the spatial structure and correlations between individual spatial pixels containing the relevant information of the physics of underpinning processes have generally been ignored and analyzed only via the visualization as 2D maps. Here we develop a machine learning-based approach and workflows for the analysis of spatial structures in 3D EELS data sets using a combination of dimensionality reduction and multichannel rotationally-invariant variational autoencoders. This approach is illustrated for the analysis of both the plasmonic phenomena in a system of nanowires and in the core excitations in functional oxides using low loss and core loss EELS, respectively. The code developed in this manuscript is open sourced and freely available and provided as a Jupyter notebook for the interested reader here.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Size Effect of Local Current-Voltage Characteristics of MX$_2$ Nanoflakes: Local Density of States Reconstruction from Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Experiments

Local current-voltage characteristics for low-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (LD-TMD), as well as the reconstruction of their local density of states (LDOS) from scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments is of fundamental interest and can be useful for advanced applications. Most of existing models are either hardly applicable for the LD-TMD of complex shape (e.g., those based on Simmons approach), or necessary for solving an ill-defined integral equation to deconvolute the unknown LDOS (e.g., those based on Tersoff approach). Using a serial expansion of Tersoff formulae, we propose a flexible method how to reconstruct the LDOS from local current-voltage characteristics measured in STM experiments. We established a set of key physical parameters, which characterize the tunneling current of a STM probe - sample contact and the sample LDOS expanded in Gaussian functions. Using a direct variational method coupled with a probabilistic analysis, we determine these parameters from the STM experiments for MoS2 nanoflakes with different number of layers. The main result is the reconstruction of the LDOS in a relatively wide energy range around a Fermi level, which allows insight in the local band structure of LD-TMDs. The reconstructed LDOS reveals pronounced size effects for the single-layer, bi-layer and three-layer MoS$_2$ nanoflakes, which we relate with low dimensionality and strong bending/corrugation of the nanoflakes. We hope that the proposed elaboration of the Tersoff approach allowing LDOS reconstruction will be of urgent interest for quantitative description of STM experiments, as well as useful for the microscopic physical understanding of the surface, strain and bending contribution to LD-TMDs electronic properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Temperature-assisted Piezoresponse Force Microscopy: Probing Local Temperature-Induced Phase Transitions in Ferroics

Combination of local heating and biasing at the tip-surface junction in temperature-assisted piezoresponse force microscopy (tPFM) opens the pathway for probing local temperature induced phase transitions in ferroics, exploring the temperature dependence of polarization dynamics in ferroelectrics, and potentially discovering coupled phenomena driven by strong temperature- and electric field gradients. Here, we analyze the signal formation mechanism in tPFM and explore the interplay between thermal- and bias-induced switching in model ferroelectric materials. We further explore the contributions of the flexoelectric and thermopolarization effects to the local electromechanical response, and demonstrate that the latter can be significant for "soft" ferroelectrics. These results establish the framework for quantitative interpretation of tPFM observations, predict the emergence the non-trivial switching and relaxation phenomena driven by non-local thermal gradient-induced polarization switching, and open a pathway for exploring the physics of thermopolarization effects in various non-centrosymmetric and centrosymmetric materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Experimental discovery of structure-property relationships in ferroelectric materials via active learning

Emergent functionalities of structural and topological defects in ferroelectric materials underpin an extremely broad spectrum of applications ranging from domain wall electronics to high dielectric and electromechanical responses. Many of these have been discovered and quantified via local scanning probe microscopy methods. However, the search for these functionalities has until now been based by either trial and error or using auxiliary information such as topography or domain wall structure to identify potential objects of interest based on the intuition of operator or preexisting hypotheses, with subsequent manual exploration. Here, we report the development and implementation of a machine learning framework that actively discovers relationships between local domain structure and polarization switching characteristics in ferroelectric materials encoded in the hysteresis loop. The latter and descriptors such as nucleation bias, coercive bias, hysteresis loop area, or more complex functionals of hysteresis loop shape and corresponding uncertainties are used to guide the discovery via automated piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and spectroscopy experiments. As such, this approach combines the power of machine learning methods to learn the correlative relationships between high dimensional data, and human-based physics insights encoded in the acquisition function. For ferroelectric, this automated workflow demonstrates that the discovery path and sampling points of on-field and off-field hysteresis loops are largely different, indicating the on-field and off-field hysteresis loops are dominated by different mechanisms. The proposed approach is universal and can be applied to a broad range of modern imaging and spectroscopy methods ranging from other scanning probe microscopy modalities to electron microscopy and chemical imaging.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Bridging microscopy with molecular dynamics and quantum simulations: An AtomAI based pipeline

Recent advances in (scanning) transmission electron microscopy have enabled routine generation of large volumes of high-veracity structural data on 2D and 3D materials, naturally offering the challenge of using these as starting inputs for atomistic simulations. In this fashion, theory will address experimentally emerging structures, as opposed to the full range of theoretically possible atomic configurations. However, this challenge is highly non-trivial due to the extreme disparity between intrinsic time scales accessible to modern simulations and microscopy, as well as latencies of microscopy and simulations per se. Addressing this issue requires as a first step bridging the instrumental data flow and physics-based simulation environment, to enable the selection of regions of interest and exploring them using physical simulations. Here we report the development of the machine learning workflow that directly bridges the instrument data stream into Python-based molecular dynamics and density functional theory environments using pre-trained neural networks to convert imaging data to physical descriptors. The pathways to ensure the structural stability and compensate for the observational biases universally present in the data are identified in the workflow. This approach is used for a graphene system to reconstruct optimized geometry and simulate temperature-dependent dynamics including adsorption of Cr as an ad-atom and graphene healing effects. However, it is universal and can be used for other material systems.

physics.data-an↗

Exploring leakage in dielectric films via automated experiment in scanning probe microscopy

Electronic conduction pathways in dielectric thin films are explored using automated experiments in scanning probe microscopy (SPM). Here, we use large field of view scanning to identify the position of localized conductive spots and develop a SPM workflow to probe their dynamic behavior at higher spatial resolution as a function of time, voltage, and scanning process in an automated fashion. Using this approach, we observe the variable behaviors of the conductive spots in a 20 nm thick ferroelectric Hf0.54Zr0.48O2 film, where conductive spots disappear and reappear during continuous scanning. There are also new conductive spots that appear during scanning. The automated workflow is universal and can be integrated into a wide range of microscopy techniques, including SPM, electron microscopy, optical microscopy, and chemical imaging.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Exploring causal physical mechanisms via non-gaussian linear models and deep kernel learning: applications for ferroelectric domain structures

Rapid emergence of the multimodal imaging in scanning probe, electron, and optical microscopies have brought forth the challenge of understanding the information contained in these complex data sets, targeting both the intrinsic correlations between different channels and further exploring the underpinning causal physical mechanisms. Here, we develop such analysis framework for the Piezoresponse Force Microscopy. We argue that under certain conditions, we can bootstrap experimental observations with the prior knowledge of materials structure to get information on certain non-observed properties, and demonstrate linear causal analysis for PFM observables. We further demonstrate that this approach can be extended to complex descriptors using the deep kernel learning (DKL) model. In this DKL analysis, we use the prior information on domain structure within the image to predict the physical properties. This analysis demonstrates the correlative relationships between morphology, piezoresponse, elastic property, etc. at nanoscale. The prediction of morphology and other physical parameters illustrates a mutual interaction between surface condition and physical properties in ferroelectric materials. This analysis is universal and can be extended to explore the correlative relationships of other multi-channel datasets.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Identification and Correction of Temporal and Spatial Distortions in Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has become the technique of choice for quantitative characterization of atomic structure of materials, where the minute displacements of atomic columns from high-symmetry positions can be used to map strain, polarization, octahedra tilts, and other physical and chemical order parameter fields. The latter can be used as inputs into mesoscopic and atomistic models, providing insight into the correlative relationships and generative physics of materials on the atomic level. However, these quantitative applications of STEM necessitate understanding the microscope induced image distortions and developing the pathways to compensate them both as part of a rapid calibration procedure for in situ imaging, and the post-experimental data analysis stage. Here, we explore the spatiotemporal structure of the microscopic distortions in STEM using multivariate analysis of the atomic trajectories in the image stacks. Based on the behavior of principal component analysis (PCA), we develop the Gaussian process (GP)-based regression method for quantification of the distortion function. The limitations of such an approach and possible strategies for implementation as a part of in-line data acquisition in STEM are discussed. The analysis workflow is summarized in a Jupyter notebook that can be used to retrace the analysis and analyze the reader's data.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Describing condensed matter from atomically resolved imaging data: from structure to generative and causal models

The development of high-resolution imaging methods such as electron and scanning probe microscopy and atomic probe tomography have provided a wealth of information on structure and functionalities of solids. The availability of this data in turn necessitates development of approaches to derive quantitative physical information, much like the development of scattering methods in the early XX century which have given one of the most powerful tools in condensed matter physics arsenal. Here, we argue that this transition requires adapting classical macroscopic definitions, that can in turn enable fundamentally new opportunities in understanding physics and chemistry. For example, many macroscopic definitions such as symmetry can be introduced locally only in a Bayesian sense, balancing the prior knowledge of materials' physics and experimental data to yield posterior probability distributions. At the same time, a wealth of local data allows fundamentally new approaches for the description of solids based on construction of statistical and physical generative models, akin to Ginzburg-Landau thermodynamic models. Finally, we note that availability of observational data opens pathways towards exploring causal mechanisms underpinning solid structure and functionality.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Chemical control of polarization in thin strained films of a multiaxial ferroelectric: phase diagrams and polarization rotation

The emergent behaviors in thin films of a multiaxial ferroelectric due to an electrochemical coupling between the rotating polarization and surface ions are explored within the framework of the 2-4 Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire (LGD) thermodynamic potential combined with the Stephenson-Highland (SH) approach. The combined LGD-SH approach allows to describe the electrochemical switching and rotation of polarization vector in the multiaxial ferroelectric film covered by surface ions with a charge density dependent to the relative partial oxygen pressure. We calculate the phase diagrams and analyze the dependence of polarization components on the applied voltage, and discuss the peculiarities of quasi-static ferroelectric, dielectric and piezoelectric hysteresis loops in thin strained multiaxial ferroelectric films. The nonlinear surface screening by oxygen ions makes the diagrams very different from the known diagrams of e.g., strained BaTiO3 films. Quite unexpectedly we predict the appearance of the ferroelectric reentrant phases. Obtained results point on the possibility to control the appearance and features of ferroelectric, dielectric and piezoelectric hysteresis in multiaxial FE films covered by surface ions by varying their concentration via the partial oxygen pressure. The LGD-SH description of a multiaxial FE film can be further implemented within the Bayesian optimization framework, opening the pathway towards predictive materials optimization.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗