Nanoscience in Central Florida

LOW DIMENSIONAL TRANSPORT – ISHIGAMI’s GROUP (PHYSICS)

His group prepares carbon nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition. He focuses in understanding the fundamental properties of these nanoscale materials as well as looks for novel applications in emerging technologies.
 
His group adapts unique ultra clean (in fact, atomically clean) approach to study the material properties of graphene, which are promising a new revolution of electronics.

 

LOW-TEMPERATURE NANOMAGNETISM- DEL BARCO’s GROUP (PHYSICS)

His group aims to understand the mechanisms governing the physics of nanoscale magnetic materials. These include molecular nanomagnets, magnetic nanoparticles and magnetic thinfilms. Most of the quantum properties in these materials manifest themsleves at very low temperatures. His lab achieves the lower temperature at UCF, just 0.015 degrees over the absolute zero.
 
He also has microfabrication facilities that his collaborators (including some high-school students) use to develop high-sensitivity sensors and electronic chips for the studies of some of the most exciting properties of magnetic systems when those become comparable in size to a molecule.

 

NANOSCALE SURFACE PHYSICS- ROLDAN’s GROUP (PHYSICS)

Her group investigates the physics and chemistry of nanostructured surfaces. This includes research on nanoscale catalysts, nanomagnetics, and photon-induced structural and chemical changes. The systematic study of physics at the nanoscale is done using an ultra-high vacumm system.

In particular, she investigates structural, electronic, magnetic, vibrational and chemical properties of size- and shape-selected nanostructures. These fundamental physical properties are of great importance to many applications of nanotechnology, including giant magnetoresistance (an effect that is used to store and process information in hard drives) spin valves, magnetic tunnel junctions or single-electron transitors, among others.

CARBON NANOTUBES- LOW’s GROUP (PHYSICS)

His group strives to understand fundamental electronic properties in graphene. This novel material is unique; it is small and solely composed of surface atoms (all the atoms are at surface). So surrounding environment can tremendously impact its material properties.