Computational and Physical Electronics

Members in Computational Electronics employ advanced computational methods to model electronic and thermal transport, quantum and optical processes in nanostructures, and to construct simulations of nanoscale material and device behavior. The group members make extensive use of physical theory and computing resources in their modeling work.

Research in Physical Electronics covers the realm from evolutionary advances in electronics and optoelectronics to revolutionary advances based on atomic-scale fabrication. Nanotechnology has permeated much of the work in this area; from the incorporation of quantum dots in semiconductor heterostructures to the use of promising new carbon nanotechnologies based on carbon nanotubes and graphene. Backing the experimental work is a strong simulation effort in which multiscale tools have been
developed to enable simulations from atoms to devices.

Nano-Electrolytics through Artificial Membrane Nanopores: Computational Electronics research shows that the use of p-n semiconductor membranes for bio-molecule detection and manipulation provides enhanced tunability of the electrolyte double layer in nanopores, and improves the membrane functionality in terms of ionic filtering and ionic current rectification.

Nanofabrication In Physical Electronics: Electron beam and novel scanning tunneling microscope- based methods have been developed for fabrication down to single atom precision. Novel CVD processes have been created for micro- and nanoscale applications. A spin-off of the STM work has resulted in deuterium processing being adapted by industry to dramatically reduce hotcarrier degradation effects in CMOS and flash memory technologies.

Thermoelectronics of Carbon-based materials: Computational Electronics has demonstrated that metallic carbon nanotubes, new nanoscale materials with unusual  electrical, mechanical and thermal properties, exhibit vanishing thermoelectric power due to the electron-hole symmetry, while they satisfy a restricted form of the
Wiedemann-Franz law in the linear current regime, in agreement with experiments.

Ilesanmi Adesida: Nanofabrication, radiation effects
P. Scott Carney: Opticphysics, bean propagation
Keh-Yung Cheng: Molecular beam epitaxy technology, quantum dots
James Coleman: Semiconductor lasers, optoelectronics
J. Gary Eden: Plasma displays, spectroscopic diagnostics
Jean-Pierre Leburton: Semiconductor devices, electronic properties
Joseph Lyding: Scanning tunneling microscopy, spectroscopy
Umberto Ravaioli: Quantum devices, supercomputation
John Tucker: New nanoelectronic architectures in silicon