Materials Research Laboratory Program (Materials Research)

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This award is for renewed support of the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) under the direction of Theodore H. Geballe at Stanford University. The MRL has three major objectives: to support multidisciplinary efforts in materials research which reqire the participation of several investigators to make progress; to fund an important set of central facilities which support a wide range of materials research on campus; and to start outstanding new research efforts rapidly and intelligently through the use of "seed money". Of the 60 or so faculty members currently active in the MRL, 37 participate in thrust area research or receive direct MRL project support. There are 32 graduate students and 4 postdoctoral research associates in the program, which maintains strong links with industrial and government research laboratories through cooperative research. The planned research includes major thrust areas in optoelectronic and infrared materials, polymer structure and dynamics, structure and properties of thin films, and photon materials research using free electron laser and synchrotron sources to investigate electronic properties of surfaces and interfaces. A particular strength of the Stanford MRL is its ability to span the range from basic science to engineering in the individual thrust areas as well as in the program as a whole. The thrust research is strongly interactive, faculty are first-rate and the quality of students and postdoctoral associates is very high. The MRL is well equipped and is addressing scientifically challenging and technologically significant research problems. Research on optoelectronic and infrared materials, polymers, and electrical and magnetic properties of thin films is often at the forefront; research proposed on photon materials science involving the free electron laser and synchrotron radiation studies of surface chemistry makes an exciting new initiative. Seed funding has been used effectively, and there are promising new interactions with industrial research groups. Support for one year is provided to give MRL management the opportunity to reorganize the MRL thrust areas and continue to define the role of the MRL in the context of current long-range planning for science and engineering at Stanford.