Mitchell's research focuses on strategic synthesis, crystal growth, and structural studies of correlated electron transition metal oxides and chalcogenides, principally using neutron and x-ray scattering.
He has coordinated the development team for a high-resolution powder diffractometer at the Advanced Photon Source, and led Argonne's strategic initiative in Materials and Molecular Design and Discovery.
Mitchell has also led a project study in the DOE Center of Excellence for the Synthesis and Processing of Advanced Materials, entitled, "Spin Polarized Transport in Complex Oxides".
[8] Turning to heavy transition metals, Mitchell explored the behavior of iridium based oxides in which electron correlation and spin-orbit coupling meet on similar energy scales.
In a series of papers he and his group showed that these nickel oxides exhibit stripe phases, intertwined density waves, and strong in-plane orbital polarization believed to be key to superconductivity.