Yoke Khin Yap (Physics) has received $166,750 from the US Department of Energy for the first year of a potential two-year research project totaling $333,500, “Hetero-Junctions of Boron Nitride and Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis and Characterization.”
Ravi Pandey (Phys) has received $75,000 (with a potential award total of $726,291) from the US Department of Defense-Army Research Laboratory for the first year of a potential three-year research and development project titled “First Principles Studies of Structure-Property Relationships in Two-dimensional Nanomaterials Beyond Graphene for Defense Applications.”
Robert Nemiroff (Phys) has received $30,000 of $238,362 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the first year of a three-year project titled “Supporting Astronomy Picture of the Day.”
Professor John Jaszczak (Physics), adjunct curator at the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, published a paper in the September/October issue of The Mineralogical Record, “Spectacular Sulfides from the Merelani Tanzanite Deposit, Manyara Region, Tanzania.” The paper’s coauthors are Simon Harrison, Mike Keim, Mike Rumsey (Natural History Museum, London) and Michael Wise (Smithsonian Institution).
Vol. 45, No. 5 September – October 2014
Fluorinated boron nitride nanotube as an ideal spin filter
Advisor: Dr. Ranjit Pati
Understanding the electronic structure and the transport property of nano scale materials is of fundamental importance, since these materials are the ultimate candidates for the future of nano technology. Several nano materials, such as quantum dots, semiconducting nano-wires, and organic molecules, have been explored both theoretically and experimentally as the components of electronic circuitry over the last two decades. Among several interesting nano materials, metal free magnetic nano materials are found to be very enticing due to the presence of magnetism in the absence of magnetic ions. Traditionally, the magnetism comes from partially occupied d and f states in the materials; however, this understanding is not always true since s and p states are found to contribute to the magnetism in the metal free magnetic materials. The main advantage of these materials is their high Curie temperature; as a result, they can be utilized in room temperature spin-electronics (spintronics). Recently, using a first-principles approach, we have demonstrated that the fluorinated boron nitride nanotube (BNNT), which is a metal-free magnetic entity, can be used as an excellent spin filter. All majority spin carriers are almost completely blocked while passing through the fluorinated BNNT channel, allowing only the minority spin carriers to pass. We have shown that the long range ferromagnetic spin ordering in fluorinated BNNTs occurs at a temperature much above room temperature.
For more information, please visit my webpage: http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~kbdhunga
By Kamal B. Dhungana
Reference:
Kamal B. Dhungana, Ranjit Pati, Fluorinated Boron Nitride Nanotube Quantum Dots: A Spin Filter. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 11494–11498.
Professor John A. Jaszczak (Physics) co-authored a paper in the journal Carbon [vol 76, Sept. 2014, but available on line now], “Plasma synthesis of hexagonal-pyramidal graphite hillocks.” First-author X. Glad and other co-authors are from Universite’ de Lorraine and CNRS (France).
Images of ZnO Nanotubes are selected as one of the cover images of Applied Physics Letters (APL) highlighted in the APL 50th anniversary celebration website. The related article, “Formation of Single Crystalline ZnO Nanotubes without Catalysts and Templates,” was the most read article in March 2007. The images and article are from Professor Yoke Khin Yap’s research group.
Recent work on in-situ probing of individual boron nitride nanotubes by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) inside a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) system is being featured in NanotechWeb. The research is conducted by Hessam M Ghassemi and Reza S Yassar in the mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics department and Chee Hui Lee and Yoke Khin Yap in the physics department. NanotechWeb notes that BNNTs are unique materials which enable the study of band structure modulation by mechanical straining. “This may lead to rational control of the electrical properties of novel nanostructures in the future,” commented Yoke Yap.