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Physics at the Nanoscale
(Lederman, Myers, Giles, Halliburton, Urazhdin, Seehra)
Physics at the nanoscale is vastly different from that of bulk materials because of:
- (i) the enhanced role of surface atoms with their unpaired spins and uncompensated bonds
- (ii) the reduced dimensionality at the nanoscale
- (iii) quantum confinement.
Additional motivation for this exciting area comes from the numerous applications of nanoparticles/nanostructures in catalysis, medicine, photonics, magnetics and spintronics. Projects of current interest include the following:
- (i) structural and magnetic properties of magnetic and semiconductor nanoparticles (Seehra)
- (ii) magnetic multilayer devices (Urazhdin, Lederman, Seehra)
- (iii) quantum confined nanostructures of semiconductor quantum dots, magnetic nanostructures and ferroelectric nanostructures (Lederman, Myers, Giles, Halliburton);
- (iv) magnetic/DNA and semiconductors/DNA nanostructures for biological sensors (Lederman, Myers, Seehra)
- (v) functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for biological applications and catalytic applications (Lederman, Seehra).
These nanostructures and multilayer systems are synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy and sputtering techniques whereas sol-gel chemical techniques are used to produce size-controlled nanoparticles. Sizes of interest are from a few nm to about 100 nm because in this size range, the effects of reduced dimensionality and roles of surface atoms and interfaces become increasingly important as size is reduced. Some of the important techniques used for characterization of the nanostructures include:
- (i) low and wide-angle x-ray diffraction
- (ii) transport measurements (electrical conductivity and Hall effect); optical properties (absorption, luminescence); electron spin resonance/ENDOR spectroscopy; FTIR spectroscopy; SQUID magnetometry; thermal studies (thermogravimentric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry); and studies of morphology and roughness using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Thus a complete program is available from the initial synthesis of the nanomaterials, investigations of their morphological/structural characteristics and followed by investigations of the relevant magnetic/transport/optical properties. Major sources of funding for these programs are grants from the U.S. Departments of Defense, Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.