RESEARCH AREAS

Arthur J. Freeman

Arthur J. Freeman Professor, Northwestern University P: 847-491-3343 E:art@freeman.phys.northwestern.edu Freeman Group Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1956

Biographical Sketch

Arthur J. Freeman is is Morrison Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University. He is world-renowned and universally respected as a pioneering proponent and developer of computational quantum materials science and engineering. He is also internationally recognized for his many fundamental contributions to the understanding of the electronic, magnetic and superconducting properties of condensed matter. He has served as Associate Laboratory Director and Head, Theoretical Physics Group, at the Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, and on the Advisory Boards of several important scientific journals. He was the Founding Editor of the Journal of Magnetism and Materials, and is a Foreign Member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Russia, and of the Russian Academy of Sciences. ISI lists over 900 publications co-authored by Freeman, garnering over 30,000 citations. Freeman’s Electronic Structure/Condensed Matter Theory Group at Northwestern University and MIT has been a leading research group in electronic structure theory for more than 40 years.

Research Statement

Theory-based materials design relies strongly on knowledge-based optimization of the desirable properties of advanced solar thermal conversion materials. Our fundamental research on the electronic structure and properties of ANSER materials is centered on applications involving their ground state properties employing the highly precise FLAPW method with both the local density approximation (LDA) and the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and on their excited state properties with the self-consistent screened exchange LDA (SXLDA), the self-consistent model Gw method and the LDA + U approach (the latter two for dealing with correlated systems). These self-consistent calculations provide both the eigen values and wave functions and so permits, for the first time, the calculation of optical properties fully from first principles (no scissor operators or other empirical data).  One unique feature of his FLAPW code is the ability to do bulk and thin-film (single slab) calculations to the same high precision.  It is the only code that correctly calculates the work functions of solids.

The method and code have universal applicability and can treat all elements of the periodic table including transition metals and rare earths.  Some recent dramatic developments include a number of unique functionalities, such as calculations of phonon frequencies with linear response theory, and the group’s so-called self-consistent screened-exchange LDA (sX-LDA) method  for treating the excited states (gaps, band offsets, etc.) of semiconductors, thermoelectrics, and even large gap insulators like CaF₂.

Publications

• “Full Potential Self-consistent Linearized Augmented Plane Wave Method for Calculating the Electronic Structure of Molecules and Surfaces: O2 Molecule,” E. Wimmer, H. Krakauer, M. Weinert, and A. J. Freeman, Phys. Rev. B 24, 864 (1981).
• Optical properties and electronic structures of semiconductors with screened-exchange LDA,” Asahi, Mannstadt, A.J. Freeman, Phys. Rev. B 59, 7486-7492 (1999).
• Cesiation of W(001): Work Function Lowering by Multiple Dipole Formation,” E. Wimmer, M. Weinert, H. Krakauer, J.R. Hiskes and A.M. Karo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 48, ll28 (1982).

Most Significant Honors & Awards

• Fellow, Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
• Fellow, Fulbright Program
• Fellow, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Winner, International Medal of the Materials Research Society
• Winner, Magnetism Award of the International Union of Pure and Applied Research