WINS News Page

September 27, 2004

The 1st Annual WINS Lecturer is Professor Martin Moskovits, Dean of Science and Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of California, San Barbara. He will present two lectures, on October 13, 2004 and October 15, 2004. Complete details including a biography of Professor Moskovits, talk times and locations, and abstracts can be found by downloading the following pdf file here. Everyone is welcome!

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September 2, 2004

The Western Institute for Nanomaterials Science, The University of Western Ontario would like to welcome:

Dr. Jim Williams
Director, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering
Australian National University, Canberra

 

DATE:              Thursday September 2, 2004
TIME:              2:00 pm (refreshments available @ 1:45pm in Rm 123)
LOCATION:    Room 123, Physics and Astronomy,
                         The University of Western Ontario

"Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research
at the Australian National University"

 

ABSTRACT

The Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering at ANU has a major research effort in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology that covers a diverse spectrum of fundamental studies and applications. There are around 40-50 research staff and a similar number of students working on micro- and nano-science projects within the School. This presentation will provide an overview of those activities and some of the most exciting recent results.

 
Firstly, work on the growth of complex self-assembled inorganic materials (particularly involving structures of carbonate-silica complexes) has uncovered some intriguing structures that mimic purported microfossils. Our results question an existing supposition that such complex structures can only arise from biomineralisation processes in living creatures: we can grow them in the lab by totally synthetic means. Other examples of material synthesis that are more applicable to technological applications are: i) use of a novel femtosecond laser ablation apparatus to produce a range of thin films with unusual properties such as carbon foam, ii) production of carbon and boron nitride nanotubes by an entirely solid state growth process, and iii) the use of ion implantation to produce nanoparticles and nanocavities with attractive properties. The School also has a decidedly photonics emphasis in much of its materials research: examples include the development of polymer films for a range of waveguide, splitter and switching applications, and the growth and processing of quantum dot laser devices that can be tuned to emit light at a precise wavelength. Further research in nanotechnology covers diverse areas such as quantum computing and the use of nanoparticles in medical diagnosis. Finally, we have a program of nanoindentation into semiconductors that has revealed a range of intriguing phase transformations that occur in extremely small volumes under the indenter as it is pressed into the surface of the material.

   
Refreshments available at 1:45 pm in Room 123

download the pdf here.
 

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August 16, 2004: WINS has been formally recognized as an Institute by the the UWO Central Administration. A copy of the WINS proposal can be downloaded here.