[5/16] The 17th “AIMR Seminar”
Speaker
Dr. Kazutoshi Inoue (Jr. PI of AIMR, Tohoku University)
Title
Description and modeling of crystalline interfaces
Date
May 16 (Fri), 2025, 14:00–14:55 on Japan Time
Venue
Seminar Room, 2nd floor, AIMR Main Building
Abstract
Crystalline interfaces are two-dimensional defects with the potential to exert a substantial influence on macroscopic properties, which is a consequence of their local atomic structures. Therefore, it is important to identify stable atomic structures around interfaces, to ascertain the origin of structure-property relationships in polycrystalline materials.
Grain boundaries are typical example of interfaces whose atomic structure significantly depends on the misorientation present in both crystals [1-4]. Previously, we investigated the 3D atomic structure of [0001] symmetrical tilt grain boundaries of wurtzite ZnO in a polycrystalline thin film. The atomic structures were characterized by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The STEM observations reveal that the grain boundaries are typically composed of bulk-like structures intercalated with a structure that compensates the misorientation. These arrangements can be predicted using a number theoretical approach and are in good agreement with the experimentally observed structures, suggesting that geometric constraints determine the grain boundary structures. In numerous instances, the atomic configurations of grain boundaries are organized in a polyhedral hierarchy, which is depicted by the Farey diagram [5-6].
A theoretical approach of this nature can also be useful for the modeling and prediction of incoherent interfaces [7]. The aforementioned issues can be extended by the effective approximation of the ratio of two lattice constants with a rational number. In the context of lattices exhibiting a rational ratio of lattice constants, potential pairs of commensurate lattices can be proposed to design functional materials.
- [1] Inoue, K; Saito, M; Chen, CL; Kotani, M; Ikuhara, Y: Microscopy, 65, 479-487 (2016) DOI: 10.1093/jmicro/dfw034
- [2] Inoue, K; Feng, B; Shibata, N; Kotani, M; Ikuhara, Y: J. Mater. Sci., 52, 4278-4287 (2017) DOI: 10.1007/s10853-016-0682-1
- [3] Bean, JJ; Saito, M; Fukami, S; Sato, H; Ikeda, S; Ohno, H; Ikuhara, Y; McKenna, KP: Sci. Rep., 7, 45594 (2017), DOI: 10.1038/srep45594
- [4] Schusteritsch, G; Ishikawa, R; Elmaslmane, AR; Inoue, K; McKenna, KP; Ikuhara, Y; Pickard, CJ: Nano Lett., 21, 2745– 2751 (2021) DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04564
- [5] Inoue, K; Roh, JY; Kawahara, K; Saito, M; Kotani, M; Ikuhara, Y: Acta Mater., 212, 116864 (2021) DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2021.116864
- [6] Inoue, K; Kawahara, K; Saito, M; Kotani, M; Ikuhara, Y: Acta Mater., 202, 266-276 (2021) DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2020.10.017
- [7] Li, H; Saito, M; Chen, C; Inoue, K; Akagi, K; Ikuhara, Y: Acta Mater., 179, 237-246 (2019) DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2019.08.018
AIMR Seminars and Tea Time
We hold AIMR Seminars and Friday Tea Time as part of the initiative to promote fusion research.



Seminars are presented by AIMR researchers and visiting scientists who provide a wide range of hot topics from materials science to mathematics. The aims of the AIMR Seminar are to build up mutual understanding, communication, and discussions of each other’s research fields.
Weekly held Friday Tea Time is where AIMR researchers and staff members can relax and talk freely while drinking coffee. Expectations of stimulating conversation may arise among the researchers and leading to new research.
From 2024, active fusion research through synergistic effects from AIMR Seminars and Friday Tea Time will be promoted.
Past AIMR Seminar
16th | Apr. 25, 2025 | Prof. Takafumi Sato (PI of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
---|---|---|
15th | Mar. 26, 2025 | Prof. Shizuo Kaji (Institute of Mathematics for Industry, Kyushu University) |
14th | Feb. 28, 2025 | Prof. Fernanda Albana Marchesini (National University of Litoral, Argentine) |
13th | Feb. 7, 2025 | Dr. Lewis Conway (University of Cambridge, U.K.) |
12th | Jan. 17, 2025 | Dr. Sonia Mahmoudi (SUURI-COOL/Mathematical Science Group, AIMR) |
11th | Jan. 10, 2025 | Prof. Lorenzo Di Bari (University of Pisa, Italy) |
10th | Dec. 13, 2024 | Dr. Yuta Yoshimoto (Fujitsu Ltd.) |
9th | Nov. 29, 2024 | Prof. Zhiqiang Mao (Pennsylvania State University, U.S.A.) |
8th | July 19, 2024 | Dr. Shuai Wei (Aarhus University, Denmark) |
7th | July 5, 2024 | Prof. Henning Schomerus (Lancaster University, U.K.) |
6th | May 10, 2024 | Prof. Hidekazu Kurebayashi (University College London, U.K.) |
5th | May 1, 2024 | Prof. Michael Hirscher (Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany) |
4th | Apr. 26, 2024 | Prof. Konstantinos Danas (ELyTMax, CNRS-Tohoku University) |
3rd | Mar. 13, 2024 | Prof. Ryoko Tomiyasu (Institute of Mathematics for Industry, Kyushu University) |
2nd | Jan. 26, 2024 | Prof. Michael I. Ojovan (Imperial College London, U.K.) |
1st | Jan. 12, 2024 | Dr. William Chuck Witt (University of Cambridge, U.K.) |
About Tea Time Talk

As part of an event during Friday Tea Time, AIMR has been hosting lectures by famed researchers and the archives up to 2023 are listed below:
43rd | July 21, 2023 | Prof. Feral Temelli (University of Alberta, Canada) |
---|---|---|
42nd | June 30, 2023 | Dr. Douglas Brumley (The University of Melbourne, Australia) |
41st | Mar. 28, 2023 | Prof. Motomu Tanaka (Physical Chemistry of Biosystems, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Germany) |
40th | Nov. 10, 2022 | Prof. Masahiro Yoshimura (National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan) |
39th | June 17, 2022 | Prof. Rana Mohtadi (Toyota Research Institute of North America) |
38th | June 17, 2022 | Prof. Michael Hirscher (Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany) |
37th | June 3, 2022 | Prof. Reiko Oda (French National Centre for Scientific Research) |
36th | May 28, 2021 | Prof. Magda Titirici (Imperial College London, U.K.) |
35th | Mar. 26, 2021 | Prof. Yaroslav Blanter (Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology) |
34th | Oct. 23, 2020 | Dr. Kazuhito Tsukagoshi (PI:WPI-MANA, NIMS & AIMR) |
33rd | July 17, 2020 | Prof. Kaoru Tamada (IMCE, Kyushu University & AIMR) |
32nd | Jan. 17, 2020 | Prof. Miho Yamauchi (I2CNER / Kyushu University & AIMR) |
31st | Jan. 17, 2020 | Prof. Mickaël Lallart (INSA Lyon, Université de Lyon) |
30th | Oct. 25, 2019 | Assoc. Prof. Frédéric Gillot (Department of Solid Mechanics, Mechanical Eng. and Civil Eng., École Centrale de Lyon) |
29th | July 12, 2019 | Prof. Qian Niu (Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin) |
28th | May 17, 2019 | Prof. Damien Fabrègue (INSA Lyon, France / ELyT MaX Lab at Tohoku University) |
27th | Dec. 14, 2018 | Prof. Yukitoshi Motome (Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Japan) |
26th | July 13, 2018 | Dr. Shimpei Ono (Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Japan) |
25th | May 11, 2018 | Dr. Pierre-Antoine Geslin (Mateis lab, INSA Lyon/CNRS / ELyTMaX Lab at Tohoku University / Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University) |
24th | Apr. 27, 2018 | Prof. Masaru Tsukada (AIMR, Tohoku University) |
23rd | Dec. 8, 2017 | Prof. Jean-Yves Cavaillé (INSA Lyon, France / ELyT MaX Lab at Tohoku University) |
22nd | July 28, 2017 | Prof. Nicolas Mary (INSA Lyon, France / ELyT MaX Lab at Tohoku University) |
21st | July 21, 2017 | Prof. Gael Sebald (INSA Lyon, France / ELyT MaX at Tohoku University) |
20th | July 7, 2017 | Prof. Arun Bansil (Northeastern University) |
19th | June 30, 2017 | Dr. Takeshi Nakanishi (AIST-Tohoku U Mathematics for Advanced Materials Open Innovation Laboratory (MathAM-OIL)) |
18th | June 23, 2017 | Prof. Denis Arčon (Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia) |
17th | Apr. 28, 2017 | Prof. Ayumi Hirano (AIMR, Tohoku University) |
16th | Nov. 29, 2016 | Dr. David Guy Austing (National Research Council Canada, Canada) |
15th | Sept. 30, 2016 | Prof. C. Suryanarayana (University of Central Florida, U.S.A.) |
14th | June 17, 2016 | Prof. Tomoteru Fukumura (AIMR, Tohoku University) |
13th | May 13, 2016 | Prof. Jean-Yves Cavaillé (ELyT MaX (Joint Lab at Tohoku University), University of Lyon, France) |
12th | June 26, 2015 | Dr. B. Muralidharan (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India) |
11th | June 27, 2014 | Prof. Michael B. Santos (The University of Oklahoma, U.S.A.) |
10th | Nov. 19, 2013 | Dr. Pawel Hawrylak (National Research Council Canada, Canada) |
9th | Oct. 1, 2013 | Dr. Yuan T. Lee (Nobel laureate in Chemistry, Academia Sinica of Taiwan) |
8th | June 28, 2013 | Dr. Bjorn Mysen (Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, U.S.A.) |
7th | Apr. 12, 2013 | Prof. Yiming Li (National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan) |
6th | Jan. 18, 2013 | Prof. Tomasz Dietl (Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland) |
5th | Aug. 31, 2012 | Prof. John H. Perepezko (University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A.) |
4th | Aug. 17,2012 | Prof. Alain Reza Yavari (Grenoble Institute of Technology, France) |
3rd | Aug. 10, 2012 | Prof. Alan Lindsay Greer (University of Cambridge, U.K.) |
2nd | July 6, 2012 | Prof. Winfried Teizer (Texas A&M University, U.S.A.) |
1st | May 25, 2012 | Prof. Thomas P. Russell (The University of Massachusetts Amherst, U.S.A.) |