Physics at the Nanoscale: Tubes, Sheets, Ribbons, and Junctions

Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Distinguished Lecture SeriesPresentsProfessor Steven G. LouieDepartment of Physics
Materials Sciences Division
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of California at Berkeley
Berkeley, CaAbstract The restricted geometry of nanostructures often gives rise to novel, unexpected properties and phenomena. In particular, symmetry and many-electron effects can become significantly more important in determining the behaviors of these systems. In this talk, I discuss some recent progress on using theory and computation to understand and predict some of their electronic, transport, optical, and mechanical properties. Examples of systems of interest include carbon and BN nanotubes, graphene, graphene nanoribbons, and molecular junctions. These nanostructures exhibit a number of unexpected behaviors – novel conductance characteristics, extraordinarily large excitonic effects (even in the metallic systems), interesting friction forces, anomalous anisotropy in the dynamics of carriers (the 2D massless Dirac fermions) in graphene under an external periodic potential, and an electric field-induced half-metallic state for the zigzag graphene nanoribbons, among others. The physical mechanisms behind these unusual behaviors are examined.Thursday, April 17, 2008
Seminar at 12:45 p.m.
OHE 122Refreshments served after the seminar in HED Lobby
The Scientific Community is Cordially Invited.

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir