Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

Professors L. Berger - emeritus, R.M. Feenstra, S.A. Friedberg - emeritus, S. Garoff, S.A. Majetich, J.F. Nagle, J.A. Rayne - emeritus, R.T. Schumacher - emeritus, R.M. Suter, and N.S. VanderVen - emeritus

In our research we investigate the structure and properties of matter on length scales from Angstroms to the macroscopic. Focusing on materials ranging from nanoparticles and thin films with dimensions of tens of Angstroms to macroscopic solid and fluid systems, we investigate atomic structure, molecular conformation, the structure of electronic states, magnetism and the acoustic response of complex structures. Our work ranges from the basic to the applied and frequently has an interdisciplinary character.

We use many different tools and techniques, including high-power pulsed lasers, x-ray and neutron scattering, optical microscopy, resonance techniques, scanning tunneling microscopies and calorimetry. Moreover, the extensive facilities of the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry and Biological Sciences are available to us, as are those of the Data Storage Systems Center and the Carnegie Mellon Research Institute. Some of our work uses national facilities for synchrotron x-ray and neutron scattering.

Our graduate students may participate in a variety of research that demands an interdisciplinary approach and includes applied aspects. Many of the research programs involve faculty and students from other departments. Applied problems are often addressed in parallel with basic research, and we often collaborate with industrial laboratories. Graduate students may even complete their Physics Ph.D. dissertations performing physics-related research under the direction of faculty from other Carnegie Mellon departments.

Recent Ph.D.s and Post-Graduation Positions

Dan Qu (2001) "Hydrodynamics of Dip-Coated Thin Films in the Presence of Evaporation and Surfactant Structured Controlling Spontaneous Dewetting", (Advisor: Garoff); Post-Doc Max-Planck Institute

Yue Suo (2001) "Unsteady Spreading of Newtonian Fluids and Dynamic Wetting of Shear-Thinning Fluids", (Advisor: Garoff); Caliper Technology

Barry Luokkala (2001) "Interfacial Structure and Rearrangement on Nonionic Surfactants Near a Receding Contact Line", (Advisor: Garoff); Carnegie Mellon University

Changqing Shi (2001) " High Data Rate Degradation and Medium Thermal Stability in Ultra-High Density Magnetic Recording", (Advisor: Zhu); IBM

Huajie Chen (2000) "Growth and Scanning Probe Microscopy of III-V Semiconductor Alloys", (Advisor: Feenstra); IBM

Gang Li (2000) "Computer Simulation of Magnetic Tape Recording", (Advisor: Zhu); IMC Corp

Vidhya Ramachandran (1999) "Molecular Beam Epitaxy of Gallium Nitride on Silicon Carbide", (Advisor: Feenstra); Staff Engineer/Scientist, IBM Burlington

Kroum Stoev (1999) "Thin Film and Inertial Effects of the Hydrodynamics and Near Moving Contact Lines", (Advisor: Garoff); Read-Rite Corp.

James Toney (1998) "Uniformity and Defects in Cadmium Zinc Telluride X-ray / Gamma-Ray Spectrometers"; (Advisor: Edward Schlesinger, Electrical and Computer Engineering); Spire Corporation, Bedford MA

Eldon Decker (1997) "Contact Line Structure and Relaxation on Surfaces with Contact Angle Hysteresis"; (Advisor: Garoff); Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh

Elaine Kirkpatrick (1997) "The Role of Anisotropy in Fine Particle Magnetism"; (Advisor: Majetich);  Assistant Professor, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN)

Prakash Mathew (1997) "Construction and Evaluation of a High-resolution Silicon Microstrip Tracking Detector and Utilization to Determine Interaction Vertices"; (Advisor: Russ); Fermilab, technical staff at government lab

Anil Prabhakar (1997) "Nonlinear Spin-Wave Dynamics and the Magnetostatic Wave-Optical Interaction"; (Advisor: Widom); Industry position, MKE-Quantum Components, Louisville, CO

Brent Bailey (1996) "Enhancement of Axial Resolution in Fluorescence Microscopy by Standing-Wave Excitations"; (Advisor: Lanni, Biology); Postdoctoral Fellow, Carnegie Mellon

Qun Chen (1996) "Experimental Investigation of Dynamic Wetting Models: Interface Shapes and Velocity Fields Near the Moving Contact Line"; (Advisor: Garoff); Research Staff, Rhone-Poulenc

Benjamin Frank (1996) "Surfactant Self-Assembly Near Contact Lines: Control of Advancing Surfactant Solutions"; (Advisor: Garoff); Research Staff, International Paper, Inc.

Ralf Heilmann (1996) "X-ray Reflectivity and Diffraction Study of the Growth Dynamics of Quenched Xenon Films"; (Advisor: Suter); Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard U.

John Henry Scott (1996) "Morphology, Structure, and Growth of Carbon Arc Nanoparticles"; (Advisor: Majetich); member of technical staff, NIST (Gaithersburg, MD)

Keith Willson (1996) "The Dynamic Wetting of Polymer Melts: An Investigation of the Role of Material Properties and the Inner Scale Hydrodynamics"; (Advisor: Garoff); Research Staff, Bayer Corp.

Adriaan Carter (1995) "Surface Effects on the Optical Properties of Nanocrystallites"; (Advisor: Majetich); Postdoctoral Fellow, Naval Research Lab

Doros Petasis (1995) "Low-Temperature Magnetic Properties of Some Rare Earth Trifluoromethanesulfonates"; (Advisor: Friedberg); Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry Dept., Carnegie Mellon

Elamine Salhi (1995) "Current-induced Distortion and Displacements of Bloch Walls in Ni-Fe Films"; (Advisor: Berger); Engineer, Read-Rite Corp, CA

Robert Stock (1995) "Fourier Formulation of Illumination Optics and Computer-Automated Reflector Design"; (Advisor: Seigel, Robotics); Research Staff, Lincoln Labs