Department of Physics & Astronomy
Presidents Day Event!
Teaching by Inquiry Workshop for Teachers and First College Experience for High School Students
More info...
Research Highlights
Nanoscale Materials Grow with the Flow
Imagine unloading a pile of bricks onto the ground and watching the bricks assemble themselves into a level, straight wall in only a few minutes. While merely a fantasy for builders in the everyday world, these types of self-assembled structures are a reality for those who build materials in the nanoworld. Michael C. Tringides, a senior physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, has shown that nanoscale “straight wall” lead islands on silicon are spontaneously and quickly created by unusually mobile atoms.
Several years ago, Tringides’ research group was the first to observe that lead atoms deposited on a silicon surface at low temperatures self-organize into uniform-height island nanostructures. The laws of quantum mechanics – specifically, Quantum Size Effects – determine why lead atoms stack up to create uniform islands while other nanostructure systems organize into islands that vary in height.
Talks / Events
15 Feb 2010 - The Muon Collider at Fermilab
Welcome to the Department of Physics & Astronomy
Physics and astronomy explores the behavior and structure of matter and energy at all levels to help describe our world and the universe. Physics has been helped us contemplate the origins of the universe and develop new products and technologies that meet human needs. The fundamental laws of physics find application in almost every branch of science, engineering and technology.
The Department has active research programs in Astronomy/Astrophysics, Condensed Matter Physics, High-energy Physics, and Nuclear Physics. Our high-energy physics, particle astrophysics and nuclear physics groups are involved in experiments which recreate the conditions of the early universe and help explain how it has evolved. In providing instruction in classical and modern physics, we cover such areas as mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, introductory modern physics, and quantum mechanics.
