Electronic and magnetic materials are the central focus of the Leighton Group's research. We study a wide variety of materials, such as nanostructures, thin films, heterostructures, bulk polycrystals, and single crystals. We focus on topics with a strong fundamental science component that are in close proximity to applications in technology, including data storage and processing and electronic devices. Projects in our group feature fabrication of films and crystals, detailed structural and chemical characterization, and in-depth measurement by numerous techniques, including transport, neutron and X-ray scattering, magnetometry, and heat capacity. Our work is highly collaborative, and we are involved in two UMN centers: the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and the DOE Center for Quantum Materials.

Current research projects include:

(i) Electrolyte gating of functional materials

(ii) Perovskite oxide films and heterostructures, particularly cobaltites

(iii) Metallic delafossite materials, especially PdCoO2 and PdCrO2

(iv) Metallic spin transport, particularly in non-local spin valves

(v) Transition metal sulfides, including the photovoltaic FeS2 and the Mott insulator NiS2

Leighton Research Group

NSF MRSEC

DOE CQM

Support Chris Leighton's Research

Education

• B.Sc. Physics: University of Durham, England, 1994.
• Ph.D. Physics (Condensed Matter): University of Durham, England, 1998.
• Postdoc: Materials Physics, University of California San Diego, 1998-2001.

Honors and Awards

• University of Minnesota Academy of Distinguished Teachers, 2020
• Morse - Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, 2020
• Fellow of the Neutron Scattering Society of America, 2020
• Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2020
• Cozzarelli Prize (with F. Bates and S. Lee), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015
• Tate Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising, 2015
• Distinguished McKnight University Professorship, 2014
• George W. Taylor Distinguished Research Award, 2013
• Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2012
• UC Santa Barbara Emerging Leader Speaker, 2008
• McKnight Presidential Fellowship Award, 2007
• George W. Taylor Career Development Award, 2007
• Institute of Technology Student Board Award, 2003
• Russell Prize, University of Durham, UK, 1998

Selected Publications

From 2023 to 2024:

• “Direct neutron-diffraction-based measurement of the magnetic order in brownmillerite SrCoO_2.5 and La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO_2.5 thin films”, W.M. Postiglione, J. Liang, N. Nandakumaran, L. Figari, A. Aczel and C. Leighton, APL Mater. 12, 041123 (2024)
• “Mechanisms of hysteresis and reversibility across the voltage-driven perovskite-brownmillerite transformation in electrolyte-gated ultrathin La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO_3-d”, W.M. Postiglione, G. Yu, V. Chaturvedi, H. Zhou, K. Heltemes, A. Jacobson, M. Greven and C. Leighton, ACS Appl. Mater. & Interf. 16, 19184 (2024)
• “Crystal-chemical origins of the ultrahigh conductivity of metallic delafossites”, Y. Zhang, F. Tutt, G.N. Evans, P. Sharma, G. Haugstad, B. Kaiser, J. Ramberger, S. Bayliff, Y. Tao, M. Manno, J. Garcia-Barriocanal, V. Chaturvedi, R.M. Fernandes, T. Birol, W.E. Seyfried Jr., and C. Leighton, Nat. Commun. 15, 1399 (2024)
• “First-order phase transition versus spin-state quantum-critical scenarios in strain-tuned epitaxial cobaltite thin films”, J.E. Dewey, V. Chaturvedi, T. Webb, P. Sharma, W.M. Postiglione, P. Qaurterman, P.P. Balakrishnan, B.J. Kirby, L. Figari, C. Korostynski, A. Jacobson, T. Birol, R. Fernandes, A. Pasupathy and C. Leighton, Phys. Rev. B 109, 054419 (2024) 
• “Exotic surface magnetotransport phenomena in the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator NiS₂”, S. El-Khatib, F. Mustafa, M. Egilmez, B. Das, Y. Tao, M. Maiti, Y. Lee and C. Leighton, Phys. Rev. Mater. 7, 104401 (2023)
• “Artificial magnetic tripod ice”, X. Zhang, I.-A. Chioar, G. Fitez, A. Hurben, M. Saccone, N.S. Bingham, J. Ramberger, C. Leighton, C. Nisoli and P. Schiffer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 126701 (2023)
• “Deconstructing magnetization noise: Degeneracies, phases, and mobile fractionalized excitations in tetris artificial spin ice”, M. Goryca, X. Zhang, J. Ramberger, J.D. Watts, C. Nisoli, C. Leighton, P. Schiffer and S.A. Crooker, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 120, e2310777120 (2023) 
• “Controlled p-type doping of Pyrite FeS₂”, B. Voigt, L. Stolik Valor, W. Moore, J.D. Jeremiason, J. Kakalios, C. Leighton and E.S. Aydil, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 15, 28258 (2023)  
•  “High spin polarization and spin signal enhancement in non-local spin valves with Co-Fe alloy injectors and detectors”, B. Kaiser, J. Ramberger, J.D. Watts, J. Dewey, Y. Zhang and C. Leighton, APL Mater. 11, 051108 (2023)
• “Electrochemically gated La_1-xSr_xCoO_3-d as a voltage-tunable phase-change material for infrared active metasurfaces”, R.D. Chakraborty, W.M. Postiglione, S. Ghosh, K.A. Mkhoyan, C. Leighton and V.E. Ferry, Adv. Opt. Mater. 2300098 (2023)
• “Intrinsic giant magnetoresistance due to exchange-bias-type effects at the surface of single-crystalline NiS₂ nanoflakes”, R. Hartmann, M. Hogen, D. Lignon, A.K.C. Tan, M. Amado, S. El-Khatib, M. Egilmez, B. Das, C. Leighton, M. Atature, E. Scheer and A. Di Bernardo, Nanoscale 15, 10277 (2023)
• “Anomalous strain relaxation and its impact on the valence-driven spin-state/metal-insulator transition in epitaxial (Pr_1-yY_y)_1-xCa_xCoO_3-d”, J.E. Dewey, S. Ghosh, V. Chaturvedi, W.M. Postiglione, L. Figari, A. Jacobson, C. Korostynski, T.R. Charlton, K.A. Mkhoyan and C. Leighton, Phys. Rev. Mater. 7, 024415 (2023)   
• “Wide-range continuous tuning of the thermal conductivity of La_1-xSr_xCoO_3-d films via room-temperature ion-gel gating”, Y. Zhang, W.M. Postiglione, R. Xie, C. Zhang, V. Chaturvedi, K. Heltemes, H. Zhou, T. Feng, C. Leighton and X. Wang, Nat. Commun. 14, 2626 (2023)   
• “Topological kinetic crossover in a nanomagnet array”, X. Zhang, G. Fitez, S. Subzwari, N.S. Bingham, I-A. Chioar, H. Saglam, J. Ramberger, C. Leighton, C. Nisoli and P. Schiffer, Science 380, 526 (2023)