CAREER: Table-top High Energy Physics in Graphene

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(Public Law 111-5)资助的。*非技术摘要*本学院早期职业发展(CAREAR)奖支持一个项目，该项目受高能核物理和粒子物理的启发，研究石墨烯(一种纳米材料)中的新颖量子物理。石墨烯是许多碳材料的组成部分，如石墨和碳纳米管。石墨烯中的电子可以模拟相对论粒子(所谓的手性狄拉克费米子？)研究高能物理，用量子电动力学(QED)或量子色动力学(QCD)描述。本项目将研究这些手性狄拉克电子在不同物理条件下在石墨烯纳米结构中的行为。其中一个重点将是研究这些电子如何与杂质以及彼此相互作用，以产生新的物质量子态。这项研究有可能发现新的凝聚态物理和操纵石墨烯中电子的新方法，石墨烯是一种具有特殊性能的材料，可能会使纳米电子的继续缩放以支持未来的计算技术。这类研究还可能为一些在基于加速器的高能物理实验中难以观察到的基本现象提供跨学科的见解。研究生和本科生将在一个令人兴奋的多学科环境中参与这项尖端研究，学习前沿物理、材料科学和纳米技术。将与国家实验室形成战略合作，以解决跨学科问题，并丰富有关学生的教育经验。教育部分还包括专门设计的纳米科学推广活动，旨在曝光高中科学教师，从而影响到广泛而多样化的高中生基础。*技术摘要*该职业奖支持一个项目，该项目研究基于石墨烯材料的纳米结构中新颖的类似相对论的量子现象。石墨烯中的电子可以表现为手性狄拉克费米子，并可能表现出与量子电动力学(QED)或量子色动力学(QCD)中研究的类似物理，这一事实将探索与高能核和粒子物理的智能联系。该项目的一个重点是研究这些手性狄拉克电子如何与杂质以及彼此相互作用，以产生新的物质量子态。这项研究可能会揭示手性狄拉克电子凝聚态系统的新物理，并导致操纵石墨烯中电子的新方法，在纳米电子器件中具有潜在的应用前景。这一跨学科的研究也可能为在基于加速器的高能物理实验中难以直接研究的一些基本问题提供见解，例如QED真空的电击穿和QCD中的手征对称破缺和质量产生。研究生和本科生将在一个令人兴奋的多学科环境中参与这项尖端研究，学习前沿物理、材料科学和纳米技术。与国家实验室形成了战略合作，以解决跨学科问题，并丰富有关学生的教育经验。教育部分的特点是针对高中科学教师特别设计了关于纳米科学的宣传活动，从而影响了广泛和多样化的高中生基础。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).****NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT****This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award supports a project to investigate novel quantum physics, inspired by high energy nuclear and particle physics, in graphene (a nanomaterial). Graphene is the building block of many carbon materials such as graphite and carbon nanotubes. Electrons in graphene can mimic relativistic particles (so called ?chiral Dirac fermions?) studied in high energy physics and described by quantum electrodynamics (QED) or quantum chromodynamics (QCD). This project will investigate the behavior of such chiral Dirac electrons in graphene nanostructures under various physical conditions. One focus will be a study of how these electrons may interact with impurities and with each other to generate novel quantum states of matter. This research has the potential to uncover new condensed matter physics and new methods of manipulating electrons in graphene, a material with exceptional properties that may allow the continued scaling of nanoelectronics to support future computing technology. Such studies may also provide cross-disciplinary insights to some fundamental phenomena that are difficult to observe in accelerator-based high energy physics experiments. Graduate and undergraduate students will participate in this cutting edge research in an exciting multi-disciplinary environment learning forefront physics, material sciences and nanotechnology. Strategic collaborations will be formed with national laboratories, to attack interdisciplinary problems and to enrich the educational experiences of the students involved. The educational component also features specially designed outreach activities on nanoscience directed toward exposing high school science teachers thereby impacting a broad and diverse base of high school students.****TECHNICAL ABSTRACT****This CAREER Award supports a project to study novel relativistic-like quantum phenomena in nanostructures based on the material of graphene. Intellectual connections with high energy nuclear and particle physics will be explored, based on the fact that electrons in graphene can behave as chiral Dirac fermions and may display analogous physics as those studied in quantum electrodynamics (QED) or quantum chromodynamics (QCD). One focus of the project is to study how such chiral Dirac electrons may interact with impurities and with each other to generate novel quantum states of matter. This research may uncover new physics of condensed matter systems of chiral Dirac electrons, and lead to new methods of manipulating electrons in graphene with potential applications in nanoelectronic devices. This cross-disciplinary research may also provide insights to some fundamental problems that are difficult to study directly in accelerator-based high energy physics experiments, such as electrical breakdown of QED vacuum and chiral symmetry breaking and mass generation in QCD. Graduate and undergraduate students will participate in this cutting edge research in an exciting multi-disciplinary environment learning forefront physics, material sciences and nanotechnology. Strategic collaborations are formed with national laboratories, to attack interdisciplinary problems and to enrich the educational experiences of the students involved. The educational component features specially designed outreach activities on nanoscience directed toward high school science teachers thereby impacting a broad and diverse base of high school students.