Lab postdoc wins 2009 Best Young Scientist prize

Feb. 10, 2010—Postdoctoral researcher Krzysztof Gofryk of the Lab’s Materials Physics and Applications Division won the Best Young Scientist prize for 2009. The award, presented by the Joint Research Centre, is based on research he conducted at the Institute for Transuranium Elements in Karlsruhe, Germany. The Institute for Transuranium Elements is one of seven institutes of the Joint Research Centre, which functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the European Union.

Transuranic intermetallics display a wide variety of exotic physical phenomena, including strongly correlated electronic behavior and unconventional superconductivity. Understanding these phenomena is one of the biggest grand challenges facing condensed matter physics today. During his work at the Institute for Transuranium Elements, Gofryk studied strong electronic correlations. He examined the magnetic, thermal, and transport properties of new transuranic compounds.

Gofryk designed and developed a complete experimental apparatus for thermoelectric power measurements of actinide materials. He used the Seebeck effect (conversion of temperature differences directly into electricity) for low-temperature studies of nuclear materials, which is an innovative approach to study the electronic structure of these systems. Gofryk investigated new superconductors containing neptunium or plutonium, and extremely rare actinides metals such as protactinium, americium, and curium. These results significantly extend the knowledge about the nature of the 5f-electrons and their interactions in actinide materials. This information also plays a crucial role for understanding unconventional superconductivity and strong electronic correlations in general.

At LANL, Gofryk examines the transport and thermodynamic properties of strongly correlated electron materials. Filip Ronning of Materials Physcis and Applications is his mentor.

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Krzysztof Gofryk