The Physics department colloquia are usually on Friday afternoons at 3 pm in Room 135. Coffee and cookies are served at 2:45 pm in the same room. Anyone is welcome.

Probing Complex Materials One Atom at a Time by a Combination of Theory and Microscopy
Dr. Sokrates T. Pantelides, University Distinguished Professor of Physics and Engineering, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy & Dept. of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Vanderbuilt University and Materials Science and Techonogy Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Calculations based on density functional theory 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. 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. Your are invited to a journey through the wide world of complex materials structures – semiconductors, superconductors, complex oxides, graphene, ultrasmall nanoparticles – for a first-hand experience of the nanoscale.

Research supported by DOE Basic Energy Sciences; primary collaborator; Steve Pennycook (formerly at ORNL).