30 likes | 277 Views
Weak Adsorption on Complex Surfaces. M. W. Cole, S. Curtarolo and R. D. Diehl; Pennsylvania State U; DMR-0505160.
E N D
Weak Adsorption on Complex Surfaces M. W. Cole, S. Curtarolo and R. D. Diehl; Pennsylvania State U; DMR-0505160 We use experiments, theory and simulation to explore the fundamental properties of gases adsorbed on complex surfaces such as quasicrystals. Quasicrystals are complex alloys having highly-ordered but non-periodic crystalline structures. Gases adsorbed on these surfaces experience competing forces that leads to new and interesting phenomena such as the formation of quasicrystalline nano-arrays. Left: The left hand column shows the density distribution of adsorbed Xe on the quasicrystal at increasing coverages of Xe. (0.1, 0.9, 1, and 2 monolayers, respectively) The middle column shows the Fourier transform of these density plots, indicating that the structure transforms from 5-fold symmetric to 6-fold symmetric as the density increases. (The transition occurs between “b” and “c”.) The right hand column shows the experimental diffraction patterns at the same coverages - good correspondence between experiment and theory!
Weak Adsorption on Complex Surfaces M. W. Cole, S. Curtarolo and R. D. Diehl; Pennsylvania State U; DMR-0505160 Broader Impact: Students and Post-doc supported by this and the predecessors of this grant in the last 5 years include Nicola Ferralis, Ph.D. student, to graduate in fall 2005; Tariq Gilani, postdoc, currently associate professor at Millersville University, FengMing Pan, currently teacher in Toronto; Andreea Trasca, Ph.D. student, currently a researcher in Berlin, Hsin-I Li, Ph.D. student, Wahyu Setyawan, Ph.D. student, and Kelly Hanna, undergraduate student. Education/Outreach: Members of this project are active in a K-12 science and technology curriculum development and outreach project with local schools.