TUESDAY 09:30
PHYSICS AT THE ATOMIC SCALE USING A COMBINATION OF QUANTUM MECHANICS AND MICROSCOPY
Sokrates T. Pantelides
Departments of Physics and Astronomy and of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
ABSTRACT
Quantum mechanical calculations using high-performance computers have made enormous strides in describing the atomic-scale properties of complex materials. In parallel, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy has reached extraordinary levels of spatial and energy resolution, in both imaging and electron-energy-loss spectroscopy. Scanning tunneling microscopy has unique capabilities in imaging two-dimensional materials on substrates. The combination of theory and microscopy provides an unparalleled probe to unravel the atomic-scale processes that control vital properties for electronic, optoelectronic, and energy-related applications. This talk will explain how these microscopes work, how calculations are done, and take you on a journey through the wide world of complex materials structures – complex oxides, two-dimensional materials, ultrasmall nanoparticles – all at a level that can be appreciated by undergraduate students even without any knowledge of quantum mechanics.