FUNctional DISorder in COmplex systems and materials

In complex materials, the atomic and electronic structure varies across multiple length scales, giving rise to spatially heterogeneous geometries that are intimately linked to functional properties such as mechanical response, electronic transport, and magnetic behavior. To visualize and quantify these structural patterns, we employ advanced Scanning X‑ray Spectroscopy and Synchrotron X‑ray Diffraction techniques, capable of resolving nanoscale variations in both real and reciprocal space. The experimental datasets are analyzed by combining modern crystallographic approaches with tools from statistical physics and spatial statistics. This integrated methodology enables the reconstruction of heterogeneous structural maps, the identification of functional domains, and the characterization of disorder, structural, electronic, or topological, as an active component of material behavior.

This framework has recently been applied to a broad range of systems, including: • high‑temperature superconductors, where nanoscale electronic inhomogeneity plays a key role [1]; • ultrathin‑film electronic devices, characterized by interfacial strain and emergent ordering phenomena [2]; • out‑of‑equilibrium biological systems, exhibiting self‑organization and functional disorder [3]; • hybrid supramolecular systems, where weak interactions drive complex mesoscale architectures [4].

The overarching goal is to understand how disorder can become a functional ingredient in complex materials and systems.

[1] Campi, G., Bianconi, A., Poccia, N., Bianconi, G., Barba, L., Arrighetti, G., … & Ricci, A. (2015). Inhomogeneity of charge-density-wave order and quenched disorder in a high-T c superconductor. Nature, 525(7569), 359-362.

[2] Valletta, A., Bianconi, A., Perali, A., Logvenov, G., & Campi, G. (2024). High-T c superconducting dome in artificial heterostructures made of nanoscale quantum building blocks. Physical Review B, 110(18), 184510.

[3] Campi, G., Di Gioacchino, M., Poccia, N., Ricci, A., Burghammer, M., Ciasca, G., & Bianconi, A. (2017). Nanoscale correlated disorder in out-of-equilibrium myelin ultrastructure. ACS nano, 12(1), 729-739.

[4] Cannas, C., Ardu, A., Musinu, A., Suber, L., Ciasca, G., Amenitsch, H., & Campi, G. (2015). Hierarchical formation mechanism of CoFe2O4 mesoporous assemblies. ACS nano, 9(7), 7277-7286.