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（公法111-5）资助的。非技术摘要 * 这个教师早期职业发展（CAREER）奖支持一个项目，以研究新的量子物理学，灵感来自高能核和粒子物理学，在石墨烯（纳米材料）。 石墨烯是许多碳材料如石墨和碳纳米管的结构单元。 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？）在高能物理学中被研究并由量子电动力学（QED）或量子色动力学（QCD）描述。 本项目将研究在各种物理条件下石墨烯纳米结构中的手性狄拉克电子的行为。 其中一个重点将是研究这些电子如何与杂质相互作用，以及如何相互作用，以产生新的物质量子态。 这项研究有可能揭示新的凝聚态物理学和操纵石墨烯中电子的新方法，石墨烯是一种具有特殊性质的材料，可以允许纳米电子学的持续扩展，以支持未来的计算技术。 这些研究也可能提供跨学科的见解，一些基本的现象，是很难观察到的基于加速器的高能物理实验。 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前沿研究，学习前沿物理学，材料科学和纳米技术。 将与国家实验室建立战略合作关系，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外展活动，旨在暴露高中科学教师，从而影响广泛而多样化的高中学生基础。技术摘要 * 该职业奖支持一个研究基于石墨烯材料的纳米结构中的新型相对论量子现象的项目。 知识与高能核和粒子物理学的联系将被探索，基于石墨烯中的电子可以表现为手性狄拉克费米子，并可能显示类似的物理学，如量子电动力学（QED）或量子色动力学（QCD）中研究的物理学。该项目的一个重点是研究这种手性狄拉克电子如何与杂质相互作用，以及如何相互作用，以产生物质的新量子态。 这项研究可能揭示手性狄拉克电子凝聚态系统的新物理，并导致在纳米电子器件中具有潜在应用的石墨烯中操纵电子的新方法。这种跨学科的研究也可能为一些在基于加速器的高能物理实验中难以直接研究的基本问题提供见解，例如QED真空的电击穿和QCD中的手征对称性破缺和质量产生。 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前沿研究，学习前沿物理学，材料科学和纳米技术。与国家实验室形成战略合作，以解决跨学科问题并丰富相关学生的教育经验。教育部分的特点是针对高中科学教师专门设计的纳米科学推广活动，从而影响广泛而多样化的高中学生基础。

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.