Program details:
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Ten weeks
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Stipend $6,000
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Travel, housing, meals provided
Application deadline:
February 5 - March 4
(offers made on a rolling basis during this window).
Program dates:
May 27 - Aug 2
Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Summer 2024
Vanderbilt University
Physics & Astronomy
Research Projects: Condensed Matter, Atomic, Molecular, Optical, and Nano Physics
(a) Schematic of near-field microscopy experiment. A thin sheet of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is overlaid on a vanadium dioxide microbeam as seen in (b). An infrared (IR) laser scatters light from a nanometer-size tip into the hBN, launching polaritons (mixed light-and-electron excitations) into the hBN that are reflected and refracted from the edges of the hBN (c) and from the metallic regions of the underlying VO2 microbeam (d), (e). From Folland et al., Nature Communications 9, 4371 (2018).
Quantum photonics in nanostructured materials
(Prof. Richard Haglund)
The Haglund group study interactions of light with materials at nanometer length scales and femtosecond time scales [see Nature Physics (2022)]. In the summer of 2024, REU students can choose among several projects: (1) Ultrafast nonlinear optics and optical harmonic generation (changing infrared light into green or blue, for example) in nanostructured semiconductor-metal bilayers; (2) dynamics of photo-induced phase transitions in any of several vanadium oxides (VO2, V2O3, LaVO3), which are quantum materials that switch from insulating to metallic behavior when optically excited; (3) X- and gamma-ray detection in "carpets" of doped and undoped zinc oxide nanowires; or (4) optical physics of single-photon emission from electronic defects in hexagonal boron nitride, an insulator with the same nanoscale hexagonal structure as graphene. The REU student will be trained as appropriate to fabricate nano- and microstructures; create thin films by chemical synthesis, sputter deposition or atomic-layer deposition; characterize materials using atomic-force, scanning near-field, scanning-electron, photoluminescence and Raman microscopies; and measure time-resolved optical spectra using lasers at wavelengths ranging from the visible to the near-infrared with pulse durations as short as 20 fs.
Computational Materials Physics and Nanoscience
(Prof.
Sokrates Pantelides)
Members of Pantelides' group carry out first-principles density-functional-theory (DFT) calculations of electronic and structural properties of materials and nanostructures. An assortment of computer codes are available that REU students can easily learn how to run. As an entry point, a student reproduces some well-known results such as energy bands for crystalline Si and graphene, determination of the lattice constant of a material or the formation energy of a defect like a vacancy, and so on. The student gets to appreciate the quantum mechanics that underlie the calculations. Once comfortable with the codes, the student will be given a real problem that has a good likelihood for either completion or at least significant progress within the available time, ultimately leading to a paper published in a technical journal and a talk by the student at the annual “March Meeting” of the American Physical Society and possibly other venues. A problem relating to two dimensional materials is likely. There are many options and the determination will be made at the time the student is accepted to participate. As an example, a previous undergraduate student tackled the problem of calculating energy barriers for the transport of different small molecules like H2 or He2 through multivacancies in graphene (atomic-scale nanopores in a single-atom-thick membrane), while another recent undergraduate student performed calculations of substitutional impurities in a two-dimensional material to design a novel ferroelectric (he was able to learn quickly the fundamentals of ferroelectricity).
(Prof.
Kalman Varga)
The main activity of Kalman Varga's group is computational modeling and simulation of electronic and transport properties of nanostructures interacting with short strong laser pulses. The group is interested in time-dependent electron dynamics including Coulomb explosion, Petahertz electronics, attochemistry, time dependent band structure engineering, and ultrafast energy transfer processes. The group is also actively working on studying electron transport processes in nanostructures using novel computational tools. Undergraduate students interested in computational physics, modelling, state of art simulations are encouraged to joint the group.
Ultra-Fast Laser Studies of Surfaces and Interfaces
(Prof. Norman
Tolk)
The Tolk group studies ultra-fast tunable laser induced electronic and
vibrational excitation at surfaces and interfaces. REU students will have
the opportunity to be actively engaged in one or more of the following
research thrusts: (A) Non-thermal resonant photodesorption of hydrogen
from silicon and diamond crystal surfaces, using the Vanderbilt Free-Electron
Laser. This novel and unanticipated effect was reported in the May
2006 issue of the magazine Science. This research effort is not only fundamental
but also has very exciting possible applications including low-temperature
growth of silicon and diamond crystals, hydrogen storage and room temperature
refining. (B) Spin Dynamics of Ultra-Fast Laser Photoinduced Magnetization
in Expitaxial GaMnAs. We have initiated a study of the dynamics of
photoinduced magnetization in ferromagnetic Ga1-xMnxAs (x=0.05) by time-resolved
polar Kerr rotation over a wide range of temperatures. Measured spin relaxation
times were found to vary from tens to hundreds of picoseconds. The GaMnAs
magnetic semiconductor system has received considerable attention in recent
years because it is anticipated that it will play a major role in developing
future spin-based devices. (C) Near-bandgap wavelength-dependent studies
of long-lived traveling coherent longitudinal acoustic phonon oscillations
in GaSb/GaAs systems. The oscillations arise from a photo-generated
coherent longitudinal acoustic phonon wave, which travels from the top
surface of GaSb across the interface into the GaAs substrate, thus providing
information on the optical properties of the material as a function of
time/depth. Wavelength-dependent studies of the oscillations near the
bandgap of GaAs indicate strong correlations to the optical properties
of GaAs.
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