在UCSB的材料部范围内，无机材料包括功能性氧化物，硫属元素化物，磷化物，金属间化合物，甚至是混合的有机-无机材料，可制备成各种平台，范围从块状非晶和多晶材料到单晶和外延薄电影。研究的重点有两个方面：首先是材料或材料结构是物质的新组成或新的晶体结构和结构（例如，异质结构），或两者兼而有之，以确保材料处于学术研究的最前沿。研究。第二个重点是功能，这意味着材料的物理特性是重要的重点。该领域的主要总体目标是建立材料功能，单位晶格长度尺度上的结构和更小尺寸与组成之间的关系，同时赞赏这种关系在新材料开发中的效用。该
Functional & Quantum Materials in the context of the Materials Department at UCSB, comprises functional oxides, chalcogenides, pnictides, intermetallics, and even hybrid organic-inorganic materials, prepared as a variety of platforms, ranging from bulk amorphous and polycrystalline materials to single crystals and epitaxial thin films. The emphasis of the research is two-fold: The first is that the materials or materials architectures are either new compositions of matter or new crystal structures and architectures (for example, heterostructures) or both, ensuring that the materials are at the forefront of academic research. The second emphasis is on function, meaning that the physical properties of the materials are an important emphasis. A key overarching goal in this area is to establish relations between material function, structure at the length-scale of the unit cell and smaller, and composition, while appreciating the utility of such relations in the development of new materials. Faculty members in this emphasis area employ state-of-the-art preparative tools, in conjunction with advanced characterization techniques and property measurement. Theoretical and computational techniques are use to both understand and predict known and new materials. World-leading on-site capabilities are employed in addition to large-scale user facilities, such synchrotron and neutron sources and the high-magnet field labs at Los Alamos and Tallahassee.