Olivier Delaire, Associate Professor of the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science  

Olivier Delaire

Office Location: 144 Hudson Hall, Box 90300, Durham, NC 27708
Email Address:

Education:
Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 2006
M.Sc., Pennsylvania State University, 2000
Diplôme d’Ingénieur, Ecole Centrale Lyon, France, 1999

Research Description: Olivier Delaire is an expert in the field of atomic dynamics in materials, with 15-plus years of experience in both experimental and computational studies of lattice dynamics (phonons).

Teaching (Spring 2025):

  • Me 490.03, Special topics Synopsis
    Teer 203, TuTh 03:05 PM-04:20 PM

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

  1. Quek, A; Ouyang, N; Lin, HM; Delaire, O; Guilleminot, J, Enhancing robustness in machine-learning-accelerated molecular dynamics: A multi-model nonparametric probabilistic approach, Mechanics of Materials, vol. 202 (March, 2025), pp. 105237-105237, Elsevier BV [doi]  [abs].
  2. He, X; Gupta, MK; Abernathy, DL; Granroth, GE; Ye, F; Winn, BL; Boatner, L; Delaire, O, Resolving the dynamic correlated disorder in KTa<sub>1-<i>x</i></sub>Nb<sub><i>x</i></sub>O<sub>3</sub>., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 122 no. 7 (February, 2025), pp. e2419159122 [doi]  [abs].
  3. Ding, J; Gupta, MK; Rosenbach, C; Lin, HM; Osti, NC; Abernathy, DL; Zeier, WG; Delaire, O, Liquid-like dynamics in a solid-state lithium electrolyte, Nature Physics (January, 2025), Springer Science and Business Media LLC [doi]  [abs].
  4. Gupta, MK; Ding, J; Lin, HM; Hood, Z; Osti, NC; Abernathy, DL; Yakovenko, AA; Wang, H; Delaire, O, Investigation of Low-Energy Lattice Dynamics and Their Role in Superionic Na Diffusion and Ultralow Thermal Conductivity of Na3PSe4 as a Solid-State Electrolyte, Chemistry of Materials, vol. 36 no. 23 (December, 2024), pp. 11377-11392, American Chemical Society (ACS) [doi]  [abs].
  5. de la Peña Muñoz, GA; Correa, AA; Yang, S; Delaire, O; Huang, Y; Johnson, AS; Katayama, T; Krapivin, V; Pastor, E; Reis, DA; Teitelbaum, S; Vidas, L; Wall, S; Trigo, M, Ultrafast lattice disordering can be accelerated by electronic collisional forces, Nature Physics, vol. 19 no. 10 (October, 2023), pp. 1489-1494, Springer Science and Business Media LLC [doi]  [abs].

Highlight:

The Delaire group investigates atomistic transport processes of energy and charge, and thermodynamics in energy materials. We use a combined experimental and computational approach to understand and control microscopic energy transport for the design of next-generation materials, in particular for sustainable energy applications. Current materials of interest include superionic conductors, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, ferroelectrics/multiferroics, and metal-insulator transitions. Our group's studies provide fundamental insights into  atomic dynamics and elementary excitations in condensed-matter systems (phonons, electrons, spins), their couplings and their effects on macroscopic properties. We probe the microscopic underpinnings of transport and thermodynamics properties by integrating neutron and x-ray scattering, optical spectroscopy, and thermal characterization, together with quantum-mechanical computer simulations.