By understanding where magnetism comes from and how electrons interact in solids, researchers can design better materials for future technologies, from advanced computing components to powerful medical instrument parts. To kick off that innovation pipeline, Welch Postdoctoral Fellow Katelyn Baumler spends her days in the lab growing single crystals of new materials with layered atomic structures that may exhibit unusual magnetic and physical properties.
“When we apply a magnetic field to the crystal, what happens? Usually, it doesn’t align and stick nicely like a fridge magnet. It does weird things because it has frustrated magnetism. The spins compete and get stuck in complex configurations. That gives us some unexpected properties that are hard to predict, which is part of why we do it,” Baumler explained.
Working in the research group of Julia Chan, Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Fenn Family Chair in Materials Science at Baylor University, Baumler produces large crystals that can be oriented, measured, and studied with precision, allowing her to observe how electrons and atomic spins interact. Some contain square-net arrangements of atoms combined with magnetic elements such as cerium and iron, which give rise to novel behaviors. Her goal is to uncover emergent properties, which are characteristics that arise from interactions within a complex system that cannot be predicted from the individual components alone. Progress depends on strategy, patience, and curiosity:
“We put these elemental precursors in a furnace at around 1,000 degrees and wait several days before we open it up to see our results. It’s really fun. But we can’t watch the reaction as it’s happening. So, I have to be strategic: How do I change a variable and see what happens? How can I push it to a limit before it all falls apart and starts making something else? Why does it make something else? I really like to think about what the atoms are up to,” said Baumler.
Baumler’s path to crystallography began with early research experiences synthesizing nanoparticles as an undergraduate at Iowa State University. Later, while in graduate school at Pennsylvania State University, she manipulated known compounds with desirable features into new compounds that cannot be synthesized directly. Frustration with the tools available to study those systems led her to single crystals. With single crystals, their large size (sometimes you can even hold them, turn them around, and look at them in your hand), long-range order of the atoms, and heavier elements offer clearer insight into how materials behave.
“Most materials are discovered by accident. Try as we might to make things on purpose, we never know for certain what will come out. So, what makes chemists important in this space is trying to understand why things form a certain way and what happens if we can control, for example, very high-temperature reactions.”
Baumler is deeply committed to mentoring students and communicating the excitement of discovery. She hopes to build a career that combines research with teaching, showing students that chemistry is fun and exciting.
“I like teaching through research. I am really excited about research and sharing that with other people. It’s really fun to bring in students and show them that as much as materials chemistry can be really high level and complicated, the day to day is really understandable.”
For her, every reaction still carries the possibility of surprise.
“The Welch Fellowship gives me security; that’s the biggest thing. But it also lets me look into topics I’m really interested in, which helps me when I’m thinking about new ideas for my own research someday.” Support from The Foundation allows her to explore future directions, such as combining human intuition and serendipity with machine learning to identify promising materials chemistry no one has thought of yet. Baumler said, “It’s the theme of everything I think about: How can we try to control and harness serendipity?”