Applied Optics Laboratory Materials Development

Modeling of materials properties in materials science, chemistry, and physics is undergoing a quiet, but radical change. The implications of this change for applications in materials science and technology are revolutionary, and extend to very broad classes of condensed matter.

SRI's Computational Materials Program staff and selected colleagues around the world have joined efforts to advance this field. Our foundation method is very efficient. In addition, we have assembled an archive of programs enabling reliable predictions of a host of materials growth, processing and performance characteristics. In the last five years, our core group has contributed to more than 100 technical papers on these accomplishments. Representative applications of our work are described here.

Research Areas

• Spins in Semiconductors
• Infrared Detector Materials
• Nonlinear Optical Materials
• Materials for Xray and Γray

Staff

Marcy A. Berding, Program Manager
Electronic and structural properties of semiconductor alloys; optical coating theory; theory of defects in semiconductor compounds and alloys; surface properties of semiconductor compounds; theoretical studies on the electronic structure of molecular clusters; X-ray absorption spectroscopy

John M. Baker, Research Physicist
Mesoscopic physics and the physics of low dimensional systems; persistent currents in mesoscopic metal rings; current drag due to electron-electron interactions; semiconductor device physics and radiation effects in microelectronic devices

Srinivasan Krishnamurthy, Senior Research Physicist
First principles and empirical band structures of semiconductor compounds, alloys, and superlattices; non-linear and high-field carrier transport in sub-micron devices; tunneling studies and device characteristics of nanoelectron devices; modeling MBE growth; first principles-based molecular dynamics calculations

Heyward Robinson, Senior Research Engineer
Optical and electronic modeling of devices and materials; electrochromics; crystalline and thin-film solar cells; infrared detectors; organic and inorganic electronic materials and devices; low cost device fabrication and scale-up; materials and device characterization; biofuels; strategic planning, technology forecasting and business development.

Zhi Gang Yu, Senior Research Physicist
Theoretical and computational materials and device structures. Spin-dependent electrical transport in semiconductors, polymers, molecules, and device structures (spintronics); electrical transport in disordered semiconductors; nonlinear optical properties in semiconductors and alloys, electron spin resonance and spin relaxation in semiconductors and molecules, electron and energy transport in biological systems such as DNA and proteins; excitons and polarons and their roles in transport and luminescence in biological systems, conjugated polymers, and polymer-based devices (molecular electronics); the competition and cooperation of spin, charge, and lattice in strongly correlated materials, such as conducting polymers, high-Tc superconductors, and related transition metal oxides.