On-chip optical modulation is one of the most important functionalities for integrated silicon photonic circuits. We demonstrate that sputter-deposited polycrystalline metallic thin films are promising materials for realizing ultra-low power modulators. Wafer-scale deposition of highly oriented metallic films allows CMOS-compatible, monolithic integration of active photonic elements on large scales.

Multilayer graphene grown at Georgia Tech to heights of 1 to 10 nanometers contains non-graphitic “twists” between layers. Our recent theory describes the top layer as a single, effectively isolated graphene sheet. The remaining multilayer creates a periodically varying mass of the top-layer electrons: from positive, to zero, to negative(!). This makes intuition from single-layer graphene available for the analysis of twisted multilayer graphene, and predicts a regular pattern in the electronic structure that has been observed in experiments from our GT/NIST collaboration.

The Nebraska MRSEC Professor/Student Pairs Program brings in professor/student pairs from non-research intensive four-year institutions to conduct research with Nebraska MRSEC scientists.  The goal is to provide a research experience which benefits both the participants and the MRSEC projects.  For the professor, this program provides an opportunity to conduct new research, access to facilities typically unavailable at their home institution, and make strong and lasting connections with MRSEC researchers.  For the student, this program provides an opportunity to conduct world-class research

Triangle MRSEC researchers have invented a new technology for the use of electrical voltages to dynamically generate various patterns on curved surfaces and over large areas, such as the surfaces of gloves. The applied voltages deform flat surfaces of rubbers into patterns of creases, lines, and craters. The patterns can be random, aligned or curved, and their feature sizes can be tuned from micrometers to millimeters. As the voltages are

Correlated motion provides new clues to the magnetic origin of high-temperature superconductivity Superconducting wires conduct electricity perfectly — without any energy losses — because each electron spontaneously bonds to a partner electron. The pairs then perform an intricate dance down the wire, never bumping into the walls or other pairs. Unfortunately,

Held for the first time on March 16, 2016, on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) campus, Science Slams is a new signature activity for the Nebraska MRSEC education and outreach program, and a first-of-its-kind event in the United States. The goal of Science Slams is to encourage undergraduate and graduate students to widen their focus beyond the results of their immediate research, making these results understandable and meaningful to a broad audience in a concise and engaging way.

Like liquids, solids can flow under applied shear stresses.  In crystalline solids, figuring out vulnerable regions where the material will break under stress is well-established—they are typically controlled by a population of defects in the crystal structure known as dislocations.  In disordered solids, however, defects are everywhere, making the task of identifying such vulnerable spots much more daunting.

First principles modeling demonstrates  that the efficiency of Multi-Exciton Generation (MEG) increases as quantum dot size decreases resolving a major controversy.  The results were highly visible.