Fundamentals of Nanoscale and Emergent Effects and Engineered Devices
Abstract
The Fundamentals of Nanoscale and Emergent Effects and Engineered Devices program seeks to understand and exploit a broad range of physical properties and new physics that emerge as a result of material and/or device structure and organization at nano-scale dimensions. The insights gained from research performed under this thrust will enable new, more efficient, and powerful material and device architectures that will benefit many DoD applications including controllable photonic devices that operate over multiple wavelengths, ultra-high sensitivity magnetic sensors, high-throughput biochemical sensors for known and unknown (engineered) molecules, advanced armor, ultra-precision air and water purification systems, and advanced armor protection. Examples of physical effects that have been investigated under this thrust include absorption thermodynamics in metal-hydride systems, and correlated electron effects such as superconductivity and magnetism. This thrust has also included investigations of the phenomenology of various biological, physical, and social systems in order to abstract the common features that are responsible for their properties of self-organization, emergent behavior, and physical intelligence. Current efforts are focused on developing stabilization and scale-up methods to fabricate high-pressure crystal structures within domains not previously possible. This offers the promise to exploit the incredible properties of high-pressure phases (e.g., hardness for armor) using economically viable manufacturing approaches.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2015
- Source ID
- a6f9e57edc137e43dd4cdcb7ef0a67bd