How Iron Feels the Heat
02-13-15
Brent Fultz, Barbara and Stanley R. Rawn, Jr., Professor of Materials Science and Applied Physics, and colleagues’ recent work provides evidence for how iron's magnetism plays a role in its curious properties—an understanding that could help researchers develop better and stronger steel. With a better computational model for the thermodynamics of iron at different temperatures—one that takes into account the effects of both magnetism and atomic vibrations—metallurgists will now be able to more accurately predict the thermodynamic properties of iron alloys as they alter their recipes. [Caltech story]
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Brent Fultz
Professor Faraon Wins AFOSR Young Investigator Award
01-21-15
Andrei Faraon, Assistant Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, has won a 2015 Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Award. The objectives of this program are: to foster creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators, and increase opportunities for the young investigators to recognize the Air Force mission and the related challenges in science and engineering. Professor Faraon’s award will support his research in the area of on-chip quantum memories at telecom wavelengths and based on nano-photonic resonators. [AFOSR Press Release]
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Andrei Faraon
Professor Scherer Elected to National Academy of Inventors
01-08-15
Axel Scherer, Bernard Neches Professor of Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, and Physics, has been named fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). He has most recently developed ways to integrate optics, electronics, and fluidics into sensor systems. Much of his work is currently focused on systems for medical diagnosis and health monitoring through molecular pathology and wireless implants. Election as an NAI fellow is an honor bestowed upon academic innovators and inventors who have "demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions and innovations that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society." [Caltech story]
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Axel Scherer
New Technique Could Harvest More of the Sun's Energy
11-26-14
Harry A. Atwater, Jr., Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science as well as Director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute, and colleagues have created a new technique to harness the lost energy from solar panels. “Silicon absorbs only a certain fraction of the spectrum, and it's transparent to the rest. If I put a photovoltaic module on my roof, the silicon absorbs that portion of the spectrum, and some of that light gets converted into power. But the rest of it ends up just heating up my roof," explains Professor Atwater. Now they have found a way to absorb and make use of these infrared waves with a structure composed not of silicon, but entirely of metal. [Caltech story]
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Harry Atwater
