Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Peter L Hagelstein
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Keynote: Condensed matter nuclear science: Basic experiments, theoretical notions and applications
Time : 10:00-10:30
Biography:
Peter L Hagelstein is a principal investigator in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) and an Associate Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received a bachelor of science and a master of science degree in 1976, then a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering in 1981, from MIT. He was a staff member of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1981 to 1985 before joining the MIT faculty in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1986.
Abstract:
In 1989 Fleischmann and Pons announced the observation of excess heat in a PdD electrochemistry experiment, which was immediately controversial. Shortly after, Fleischmann and Pons were discredited, along with all other researchers who continued in the field. Flash forward by a quarter of a century, and some things have changed, while others have not. Not only has the basic excess effect been seen now in hundreds if not thousands of experiments, but the technology has moved forward to the point where commercialization might be considered. From a large number of different kinds of experiments (some involving excess heat, and some involving other anomalies such as collimated x-ray emission) a picture is suggested as to what is going on microscopically. However, the researchers in the field remain discredited, and there has been very little support. It has long been recognized that the anomalies are inconsistent with textbook condensed matter physics and nuclear physics. At present there is no accepted explanation for the anomalies. We have been working with augmented spin-boson models for some years now in which coherent energy exchange occurs between quantum systems with highly mismatched quanta. We have proposed a new condensed matter Hamiltonian which is augmented to include internal nuclear degrees of freedom, which is thought by us to be applicable systematically to all of the anomalies. We propose to give an overview of both the relevant experimental results and theoretical ideas in this talk.
Keynote Forum
Arun Bansil
Northeastern University, USA
Keynote: Topological insulators, novel superconductors, and 2D atomically thin films beyond graphene
Time : 10:50-11:20
Biography:
Arun Bansil is a University Distinguished Professor in physics at Northeastern University. He served at the US Department of Energy managing the Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics program (2008-10), is as an Academic Editor of the international Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, the Founding Director of Northeastern University’s Advanced Scientific Computation Center, and serves on various international editorial boards and commissions. He has authored/co-authored over 260 technical articles, 18 volumes of conference proceedings, covering a wide range of topics in theoretical condensed matter and materials physics, and a major book, X-Ray Compton Scattering (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004).
Abstract:
The author will discuss some of our recent results aimed at understanding the electronic structure and spectroscopy of novel superconductors, topological materials, and atomically thin 2D films. Illustrative examples include: (i) How by exploiting electronic structure techniques we have been able to predict and understand the characteristics of many new classes of binary, ternary and quaternary topologically interesting materials, including topologically crystalline insulators; (ii) How atomically thin ‘beyond graphene’ 2D materials such as silicene, germanene, stanene, and MoSe2 offer exciting new possibilities for manipulating electronic structures and provide novel applications, platforms; (iii) Asymmetry of the Scanning Tunneling (STM) spectrum of the cuprate high-Tc superconductors between positive and negative bias voltages and the extent to which it reflects strong correlation effects; (iv) Character of the doped holes in the curpate superconductor La-Sr-Cu-O as revealed by the analysis of doping dependent high-resolution Compton scattering studies.
Keynote Forum
Mehdi Anwar
University of Connecticut, USA
Keynote: ZnO nanostructures and memristors
Time : 11:20-11:50
Biography:
Mehdi Anwar is currently working on (a) ZnO Nanowire based UV detection and energy harvesting, (b) III-Nitrides and Oxide Semiconductor -based high power and high temperature quantum cascade lasers and (c) RF Oxide Semiconductor and III-Nitride HFETs and (d) memristors, to name a few. His team pioneered the design of low noise antimony-based-compound-semiconductor (ABCS) HEMTs with quaternary buffer/barrier and ternary, with a measured fT around 200FGHz and Fmin of 0.82dB at 15GHz. He has presented over 40 plenary and invited talks at national/international conferences, published over 240 archival journal publications, conference proceedings and book chapters and edited 9 volumes. He serves as an Editor of IEEE JEDS and served as an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices (2001 – 2010) and serves as the conference chair of the international conference on Terahertz Physics, Devices and Systems, at SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing (2009-2015). He is an SPIE Fellow.
Abstract:
Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a unique wide bandgap biocompatible material system exhibiting both semiconducting and piezoelectric properties that grows in a diverse group of nanostructure morphologies. Bulk ZnO has a bandgap of 3.37 eV that corresponds to emissions in the ultraviolet (UV) spectral band. Highly ordered vertical arrays of ZnO nanowires (NWs) have been grown on substrates including silicon, SiO2, GaN, and sapphire using a metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth process. Co-axial core-shell nanostructures demonstrating unique properties with enhanced detectability of chemical species have been grown. Structural and optical properties of the grown vertically aligned ZnO NW arrays characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photoluminescence (PL) will be presented and discussed. We will introduce the growth of horizontal ZnO nanowires and present the state-of-the-art technology in the fabrication of memristors – the fourth circuit element. A discussion on the operation of memristors using the concept of conductive filament formation supported by both measurement of I-V and modeling will follow.
- Track 9: Applications and New Dimensions in Technology
Chair
Peter L. Hagelstein
Massachusetts Instuite of Technology, USA
Co-Chair
A. F. M. Anwar
University of Connecticut, USA
Session Introduction
Puneet Srivastava
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
Title: GaN HEMTs for next generation electronics
Time : 11:50-12:10
Biography:
Puneet Srivastava received his PhD degree from IMEC-Belgium in 2012. During his PhD, he worked on the fabrication and technology integration of GaN-on-Si HEMTs for power switching applications. Since September 2012, he has been working as a Postdoctoral Associate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, USA with Prof. Tomás Palacios in the area of high frequency GaN-electronics. He has authored/co-authored over 40 international publications and holds 2 patents. He serves as an Editor for IETE-Technical Review and a Member of IEEE and IEEE Electron Device Society (EDS). He is a Reviewer of various journals such as IEEE Electron Device Letters, IEEE Transaction on Electron devices among others.
Abstract:
Gallium Nitride (GaN) High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs)has been identified as essential components for realizing efficient, compact, high power switching systems and high power amplifiers at high frequencies for low loss power conversion and transmission. In the recent years, significant advancements have been made towards GaN-on-Si power devices due to the lower cost and large size availability of the Si substrate. Si substrate, however, presents constraints such as limited voltage handling capabilities, which are more apparent at elevated temperatures. In my talk, I will discuss a novel technology solution of Si substrate engineering to mitigate the high voltage and high temperature restrictions imposed by Si for power electronics applications with an improved device figure of merit. Several kilo Volt devices have been achieved in a cost effective way with high temperature capabilities required by various demanding applications such as downhole tools in oil and gas industry, automobiles and photovoltaics among others. The second part of my talk will focus on developing a unique technology with a deep sub-micron gated large periphery GaN-HEMTs with high power density for future kilo Watt Radio Frequency (RF) amplifier systems.
Biography:
Akira Ishibashi completed his PhD in 1990 from Dept. of Phys., the University of Tokyo. He joined Sony Corp. Res. Ctr., 1983 and achieved the world first room-temperature CW operation of blue laser diode based on ZnMgSSe II-VI materials in 1993. He was a visiting faculty of Loomis Lab., Dept. Phys., Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990-1991, and a visiting Professor at Inst. for Interdisciplinary Research, Tohoku Univ. in 1998. Since 2003, he has been a Professor heading Nanostructure Physics Lab., RIES, Hokkaido University.
Abstract:
New devices and systems in materials science (atoms), information technology (bits), energy, renewable energy, and environment engineering having been of increasing importance, it would be convenient for us to investigate those new devices and systems in the four-dimensional space of atom-bit-energy/environment (ABE2) space. We have been studying quantum-cross devices in atom-bit (AB)-plane, multi-striped orthogonal photon-photocarrier-propagation solar cell (MOP3SC) in bit-energy (BE)-plane, and clean unit system platform (CUSP) in atom-environment (AE)-plane. The CUSP, being itself a key player in AE plane of the ABE2 space as a clean versatile environment of ISO class -1 to 5 having small footprint, low power-consumption and high cost-performance can serve as the next generation production system and future cross-disciplinary platforms including the one for kinetosomnogram. Multiply-connected CUSP system will outperform conventional clean room only for nanotechnologies or bio-technologies but also for the next-generation environment-friendly healthcare platform. Since extremely high cost-performance in industrial and social activities means “cost/performance ~ 0”, which could be a counterpart of “mass ~ 0” in physics, CUSP would be able to serve as a “Nambu-Goldstone boson” to make a social phase transition for our better world in terms of maintaining high QOL and postponing the time when elder people might get into medical cares. The CUSP in AE plane, outperforming the conventional super clean room (“main frame”), would be the clean space for all of us in near future.
Takashi Kimura
Kyushu University, Japan
Title: Large spin-dependent thermoelectric effects using CoFe-based alloy
Time : 12:30-12:50
Biography:
Takashi Kimura is a Research Scientist in the field of spintronics. He got his BEng in Electronics, MEng in Nano-Electronics and PhD from Osaka University. He was a Research Fellowship in Riken and was Assistance Professor in Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo. Now, he is a Professor for Department of Physics, Graduate School of Sciences and the Director of Quantum Nano-Spin Sciences Research Center, Kyushu University, Japan. He was awarded the IUPAP Young Scientist Metal in the field magnetism 2009.
Abstract:
Manipulation of spin current is a central issue in the operation of spintronic devices because the spin current plays key role in spin-dependent transports and spin-transfer switching. Recently, heat utilization for creating the spin current has been paid considerable attention, leading to an emerging field, spin caloritronics. Various mechanisms for generating spin current utilizing heat such as the spin Seebeck effect, spin dependent Seebeck effect, Seebeck spin tunneling effect and spin heat accumulation have been demonstrated in different device structures. However, the generation efficiencies for spin current were much smaller than that by electrical means, indicating quite far from the practical application. Recently, we have shown that the thermal spin injection efficiency was dramatically enhanced by using a CoFeAl injector because of its favorable band structure. This demonstration may open a new avenue for the utilization of the spin current in the nano-electronic devices. In this presentation, the author will introduce an electrical and thermoelectric property for the excellent material CoFeAl and show that a sign reversal of the Seebeck coefficient between the up and down spins is the key for enhancing the generation efficiency of the spin current. Furthermore, we show that CoFeAl induces a large spin Peltier effect.
Igor Tralle
University of Rzeszow, Poland
Title: Three-component gyrotropic metamaterial
Time : 12:50-13:10
Biography:
Dr. Tralle is a physics professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Rzeszów. His research interests are concentrated around Solid State and Semiconductor Physics, charge carrier transport in low-dimensional and quantum structures, linear and nonlinear Optics, quantum cascade lasers as well as Mathematical Physics. During the last couple of years his research interests are moving also towards THz detection and generation and metamaterials. He is an author or co-author of about 100 research papers published in high-rank peer reviewed scientific journals.
Abstract:
We propose a comparatively simple way to fabricate a metamaterial which is both gyrotropic and of simultaneously negative permittivity and permeability. The idea is to make a mixture of three ingredients, where one of them would be responsible for the negativity of μ, while the other two would be responsible for the negativity of ε. The first component of the mixture is the ’swarm’ of single-domain ferromagnetic nano-particles, immersed in a mixture of other two, silver and mercury cadmium telluride. In the work we carried out computer simulations in the frame of the proposed model in order to establish the domains of existence of such material searching through the vast parameter space. The main result of the paper can be summarized as follows. In the framework of the model, we succeeded in establishing the domains of gyromagnetic metamaterial existence, relative to all parameters characterizing the model that is, temperature, external magnetic field, parameters of nano-particles, and fraction of cadmium in Hg 1-xCdx Te - compound as well as the relative concentrations of the mixture components. Negative refraction and optical activity can be achieved only if the material is in external, however moderate magnetic field. On the other hand, in some circumstances, it could be an advantage, since switching magnetic field on and off, one can trigger off negative refraction.
P R Alapati
North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, India
Title: Study of molecular dynamics in two liquid crystal dimers using laser Raman spectroscopy
Time : 13:10-13:30
Biography:
Dr. P.R Alapati obtained his Ph. D degree in Physics during 1988 from Nagarjuna University, India by working in the field of Liquid Crystals for my thesis on structural and phase transition studies in Schiff base liquid crystal monomers. After carrying out postdoctoral research at the university of Southampton, The United Kingdom on a Commonwealth scholarship and SERC, UK fellowship for two years, he joined North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India (a Deemed to be university established and fully funded by Government of India) as a lecturer in 1991. Working as professor since 2009.
Abstract:
We report here the study of molecular dynamics in two liquid crystal dimer compounds of the homologous series α, ω – bis (4 – alkyl aniline benzylidene 4’ –oxy ) alkane series (m.OnO.m) using Raman Spectroscopy in the spectral region 1000-1735 cm-1 as a function of temperature. The compounds 6.O6O.6 and 6.O12O.6 were synthesized following a standard procedure available in literature and characterized using Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Polarizing Thermal Microscopy. The Raman spectra of these compounds were recorded at different temperatures using a Triaxmonochromator equipped with a CCD detector in the 1000-1735 cm-1 region. The spectra were recorded over a wide range of temperature starting from room temperature (crystalline phase) to 180°C (isotropic phase) for 6.O6O.6 and to 132°C for 6.O12O.6 at intervals of 0.1°C near the phase transition temperature and at 2°C elsewhere. The compound 6.O6O.6 exhibits SmA and SmF phases, whereas compound 6.O12O.6 exhibits the nematic phase. The precise values of peak positions, integrated intensities and line widths of some selected Raman bands have been obtained by curve fitting and deconvolution using GRAMS software. The changes in the molecular alignment and its effect on inter/intra molecular interactions at different phase transitions have been discussed and compared in this paper on the basis of variations in the Raman parameters with temperature. An important finding from our studies is that the compound 6.O6O.6 exhibits a rigidity that is similar to monomeric liquid crystalline systems like MBBA or TBBA, but very much unlike other dimmers, which possibly could explain the phase behavior of these symmetric dimers in comparison with liquid crystal monomers.
Jan Smotlacha
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Russia
Title: Topological defects in graphene nanostructures
Time : 14:30-14:50
Biography:
Jan Smotlacha has completed his PhD at the age of 33 years from Czech Technical University. Now he works as the in the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics in the Joint Senior Research Scientist Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna. He has published about 10 papers in reputed journals or conference proceedings.
Abstract:
The graphene nanostructures are the materials derived from the hexagonal carbon lattice. Its structure can be changed by the supply of different kinds of defects, especially the pentagons or the heptagons. In this way, new materials are created – the fullerenes (nanospheres), nanotubes, nanocylinders, nanoribbons, nanocones, nanohorns, nanotoroids, nanowires etc. A wide variety of electronic and magnetic properties of these structures have been studied. They promise a potential use in nanoscale devices like quantum wires, nonlinear electronic elements, transistors, molecular memory devices or electron field emitters. One of the main characteristics of the electronic properties is the local density of states which gives the number of the electron states per the unit interval of energies and per the unit area of the surface. There are more ways how to calculate this quantity: By the direct calculation from the electronic spectrum, using the Green function method, by the application of the continuum gauge field-theory approximation etc. In our investigation, all the 3 methods were used: The continuum gauge field-theory approximation was used for the calculation of the electronic properties of the surface with the hyperboloidal geometry in the vicinity of the pentagonal and heptagonal defects, the Green function method and the energy spectrum were used for the calculation of the electronic properties of the nanocylinders and of the disclinated nanoribbons. Our latest research is connected with the properties of the graphene wormhole and the possibility of its construction. We are also interested in the effect of the spin-orbit interaction in the graphitic nanocone, in its influence on the local density of states and in possible application of this effect in atomic force microscopy.
Beer Pal Singh
CCS University, India
Title: Impact of ambient H2S atmosphere on the growth and properties of vacuum evaporated sulfide semiconductors thin films for device applications
Time : 14:50-15:10
Biography:
Beer Pal Singh has received his M.Phil. (1998) and Ph.D. (2002) from C.C.S. University, Meerut (UP), India. He is holding faculty position in Physics at C.C.S. University, Meerut since 2004. Presently, he is working as a visiting scientist (Raman Fellow) in University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, PR, USA. He has supervised 6 Ph.D. and more than 20 M.Phil. students for their research thesis. He has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals and serving as a reviewer of several national/international journal of repute. Recently, he has been nominated as an editorial advisory board member of Vigyan Pragati published by NISCAIR, New Delhi.
Abstract:
Thin films of sulfide semiconductor are very important for their efficient use in the fabrication solar cells and optoelectronics devices. The properties of vacuum evaporated thin films of sulfide semiconductors are very sensitive to the deposition conditions. Vacuum thermal evaporation is very simple and inexpensive method which can be used for large area thin film deposition. The problem associated with this technique is to maintaining the stoichiometry in the deposition of compound semiconducting materials composed of elements having different vapor pressures. Generally the vacuum deposited thin films of compound sulfide semiconductors have deficiency of sulfur. Such non-stoichiometric films lead to defects in the crystalline structure which, adversely affect the electro-optical properties of the films. Thin films of compound sulfide semiconductors (CdS, ZnS and PbS) have been deposited in a low ambient atmosphere of H2S by thermal vacuum evaporation technique. Thiourea has been used to create an ambient atmosphere of H2S inside the vacuum chamber during evaporation. The higher reactivity of H2S will ensure a better conversion of the dissociated cations (sulfide ions) into compound sulfide semiconductors. The impact of ambient H2S atmosphere on the growth and properties of vacuum evaporated sulfide thin films have been studied via optical spectroscopy, XRD, SEM, EDX, AFM and XPS measurements. The films grown in H2S ambient atmosphere are more uniform, more adhesive, pin hole free and have better crystallinity and better adhesion to the substrates and would be inherently more suitable for any electro-optical device fabrication.
- Track 3: Electronic Phases, Semiconductors and Superconductors
Chair
Danial Prober
Yale University, USA
Co-Chair
Igor Tralle
University of Rzezsow, Poland
Session Introduction
Daniel Prober
Yale University, USA
Title: Ultrasensitive far-infrared / THz detection with graphene photodetectors
Time : 15:10-15:30
Biography:
Dr. Prober is a Professor of Applied Physics and Physics at Yale University. He joined the faculty in 1975 as an Assistant Professor, after completing the Ph.D. in Physics at Harvard. He was promoted to tenure in 1981. He received the A.B. in Physics from Brandeis University in 1970. His main research interests are in nanosystems, superconductivity, quantum noise and low temperature photon detectors.
Abstract:
Graphene has recently been proposed as an ultrasensitive THz photon detector for space-based astronomy observations. We have studied the thermal properties of monolayer graphene for this application, and done extensive modeling of the detection processes. We employ superconducting contacts to achieve energy confinement in the graphene. Recently we have studied experimentally the energy loss processes in graphene down to T=0.1 K. The space-based observatories that could employ such detectors will be discussed, as well as the science that can be done with these observatories.
Yasutami Takada
University of Tokyo, Japan
Title: Spin-singlet resonance state in proton-embedded metals: A new paradigm for metallic screening to a point charge
Time : 15:30-15:50
Biography:
Yasutami Takada has completed his Ph.D on mechanisms of superconductivity in degenerate semiconductors at the age of 28 years from Tokyo University and postdoctoral studies from Purdue University and University of California at Santa Barbara. In 1985, he joined in the division of Condensed Matter Theory, Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo as a faculty member and is now a professor at the division concurrently with a professor at Center of Computational Materials Science. He has published more than 110 papers in reputed journals and served as a Divisional Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters during 2001-2007.
Abstract:
Hydrogen in metals has attracted attention for a long time from both basic scientific and technological points of view. Its electronic state has been investigated in terms of a proton embedded in the electron gas mostly by the local density approximation (LDA) to the density functional theory (DFT). At high electronic densities, it is well described by a bare proton H+ screened by metallic electrons (charge resonance), while at low densities two electrons are localized at the proton site to form a closed-shell negative ion H- protected from surrounding metallic electrons by the Pauli exclusion principle. However, no details are known about the transition from H+ to H- in the intermediate-density region. In my talk, I shall explain its complete picture, in particular, a sharp transition from H+ screening charge resonance to Kondo-like spin-singlet resonance, the emergence of which is confirmed by the presence of an anomalous Friedel oscillation characteristic to the Kondo singlet state through diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) calculations with total electron number up to 170. This picture enriches the paradigm for metallic screening to a point charge with the addition of a possibility of spin resonance with a very long screening length, depending on the metallic density and the magnitude of charge. Besides, this work reveals that hydrogen is most stably embedded in the form of this spin-singlet resonance state, which may be important information for hydrogen storage in metals.
Tsuyoshi Takami
Osaka University, Japan
Title: Peculiar physical properties and material synthesis by self-organization
Time : 15:50-16:10
Biography:
Tsuyoshi Takami has completed his PhD in 2007 from Nagoya University and worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Texas at Austin. He was the editor of Nanothermectricoels. He has published more than 35 papers in reputed journals such as PRL, PRB, and APL and a comprehensive review book titled “Functional Cobalt Oxides: Fundamentals, Properties, and Applications” in the CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.
Abstract:
Self-organization has attracted much attention because of its tremendous promise. Well-known examples of self-organization include the double-helix structure of DNA and the three dimensional structure of protein. Universe, creatures, and materials are also regarded as a form via self-organization spreads over spatiotemporal, giving or taking energy and information; there is a broad range of new fields to be created. Recently, the author found the single-crystal synthesis method and coexistence of multiple phases such as metallic and semiconducting phase, spin cluster and non-magnetic phase, and intermediate-spin and low-spin phase due to self-organization. The former synthesis method becomes to be possible by self-organization of atoms or molecules and the latter coexistence originates from that of electrons. This physical phenomenon is expected to be beneficial not only for exploring novel physical properties but also for improving functionality. For example, hydrogen, the simplest and most abundant element in the universe, has the potential as an energy carrier. New hydrogen storage material, meets the energy need today, has been synthesized by self-organization.
- 16:50-17:50 Workshop on Smart Materials by Ajay Kumar Mishra, University of South Africa