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Instruction

Dr Duncan has taught a plethora of classes throughout his career ranging from introductory courses for undergraduates to complex topics for graduate-level courses.

Dr Duncan has taught throughout the physics curriculum, including the introductory sequence of university physics, introduction to special relativity and to quantum physics, graduate condensed matter physics, graduate electromagnetism, interdisciplinary courses in self-organized criticality and in biological physics, and senior laboratory. He led the development of a new core curriculum course called “Chemistry and Physics at the Nanometer-scale”, which he first taught during the Fall Semester, 2006 as part of our new Nanoscience and Microsystems graduate degree program. He has advised and co-advised many post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduate students at the University of New Mexico, Caltech, and Texas Tech University.  Many of his former students now hold permanent positions in academia, industry, and in the national laboratories within the United States

In the Fall of 2022 semester, Dr Duncan taught a new graduate-level course on Nanoscience and Quantum Sensing.  This special topics course was quite successful, and was made into a regular graduate course offering each Fall semester.

PHYS 5337.001   FALL 2024  (Tentative Syllabus)

A graduate-level course on Nanoscience and Quantum Sensing.

We will introduce methods of advanced materials properties measurement, and nanomaterials design, within this course.  We will also discuss the principles of physics and chemistry at the nanometer scale, and the nature of macroscopic quantum coherence in materials, such as superconductors, superfluids, quantum dot arrays, and in Bose-https://www.depts.ttu.edu/phas/cees/Instruction/PHYS_5337-001/Syllabus_5337_F2024.docxEinstein Condensates (BEC). Students will study several subtopics in detail including the areas described below: 

1)     Properties of materials, and engineering principles, as a function of size 

2)     Multi-scale imaging, AI detection of emergent phenomena, and quantum dot arrays 

3)     Magnetic properties of materials, nanomagnets, and spintronics

4)     Fabrication and characterization of nanomaterials 

5)     Nuclear nanotechnology, fission / fusion fragment nanoparticles, and applications  

6)     Quantum coherence, superconductivity, superfluidity, BEC

7)     Quantum dot design principles for quantum sensors  

In the lab, students will learn to operate the Quantum Design ‘DynaCool’ Physical Properties Measurement System (PPMS), and various electron microscopes, and the Zeiss 540 Crossbeam Focused Ion Beam (FIB) system to fabricate quantum dot arrays, and to study emergent structures at the nanometer level.  We will also conduct laboratory demonstrations and various other techniques that will be useful for the students to understand as they are introduced to this new field of research.  

The Zoom meeting link was sent out through email with the passcodes.  This is not being made public to avoid Zoom-bombing.

 

A weekly calendar of activities and reading materials is included below, but this will be reorganized as the semester continues so that the linked reading materials match the discussion topic.

Week Activities Reading Materials & Location Notes

Week #1)

08/22

Apparatus fabrication overview

Machining, 3D printing, resin printing, laser cutting, and printing

08/22:  ONLINE

Introduction to the class, grading, laboratory safety
High-level introduction to nanoscience and quantum sensing
How are things different at the nanometer-scale?
Bottom-up and top-down nanofabrication technology
Introduction to assigned reading: Richard Feynman, “Plenty of Room at
the Bottom” (1959)

     Feynman

     Recapturing-a-Future-for-Space-Exploration

Presentation 08/24:  Aug25_Fall_5300-19.pdf

Term Begins on 08/22

Week #2)

08/27 - 08/29

Apparatus fabrication overview

Machining, 3D printing, resin printing, laser cutting, and printing

Introduction to self-assembly of nanoparticles

Nanomaterials safety

Links:

    Ender 5 Pro

    Ender 3

    Anycubic Photon Zero

    Anycubic Photon Mono

    Bambu Lab P1P

    HP-2440 CO2 Laser Cutter and Engraver

 

Preparing for next week:

Nanoparticle Synthesis and Experimentation

Nanoparticle Synthesis

Synthesis References

08/27 & 08/29:  Science 204

More on size dependence in physics
Single-electron charging of quantum dots – setting the scale
Intuition and quantum mechanics

     Quantum_Capacitor

     Lecture_2

 

Presentations:

    3D Printing Lecture

    AutoDesk_Lecture

    Nanoparticle Synthesis and Images

 

Week #3)

09/03 - 09/05

Nanoparticle synthesis and experimentation

Demonstration of advanced instrumentation design

Quantum Nucleonics

Nono-nuclear energy technology

Fission-fragment rocket (FFR)

09/03:  Reese B61

09/05:  Science 204

Techniques for producing nanoparticles in the lab (Duncan, Adeosun)
Nanoparticle synthesis and experimentation

 

Reading material 09/07:  Reese B61

Follow-up on nanoparticle synthesis (Duncan, Adeosun)
More on instrumentation: diagnostics & applications

    Nanoparticle Synthesis

 

Week #4)

09/10 - 09/12

 

Nuclear measuements and nuclear laboratory safety

Radiation Detection

CR-39 for alpha particle and neutron track analysis

Gamma neutron spectroscopy

Tritium analysis

Radiation Safety

 

Preparing for next week:

Imaging nanoparticles with TEM
Assign: Lawrie, et al., “Quantum Dot Arrays in Si and Ge”

TEM:  H7650

Hitachi TEM:  H9500

09/10:  Science 204

09/12:  ESB 153

Tritium assays / P&E Quantulus instrument (Duncan, Lin)

Quantulus_GCT_6220_SOP

 

Quantum dot arrays and applications (Duncan, Lin, Zhao)
Quantum coherence in nanodot arrays
Discuss: Lawrie, et al., “Quantum Dot Arrays in Si and Ge”

Lawrie_Quantum_Dot

Electron Microscope Diagram

 

Week #5)

09/17 - 09/19

Continuation of materials from last week

 

Introduction to the Zeiss Crossbeam 540 SEM and FIB
Examples of sample preparation and fabrication
Introduction to Hitachi 3400 (Duncan, Lin, Zhao)

Zeiss XB:  Zeiss-Crossbeam

 

More SEM / FIB lab (Duncan, Lin, Zhao)
Design and fabrication of nanodot arrays in Pt

Hitachi S3400:  Student Operating Instructions

09/17:  ESB 153

09/19:  Imaging Center (IC)

 

Week #6)

09/24 - 09/26

Continuation of the materials from last week

Continuation on nanodot array fabrication

Oxford EDS:  Elemental Analysis

09/24 & 09/26:  IC

Wire bonding (Duncan, Eo, Lin Zhao)
Continuation on nanodot array fabrication

 

Week #7)

10/01 - 10/03

Robotic imaging, wide-area mapping, and AI 

Design and fabrication of nanodot arrays in platinum using FIB

10/01 & 10/03:  IC

 

Week #8)

10/08 - 10/10

Completion of electronic imaging and FIB nanofabrication

How size matters in classical physics

 

Additional Reading:

Mossbauer effect and nuclear spectroscopy
Introduction to Quantum Nucleonics
Lattice magnon excitations to control nuclear quantum dynamics

TriCarb_Reference_Manual_for_Windows_10

10/08:  IC

10/10:  Science 204

 

Additional Reading:

Mossbauer effect and nuclear spectroscopy
Introduction to Quantum Nucleonics
Lattice magnon excitations to control nuclear quantum dynamics

TriCarb_Reference_Manual_for_Windows_10

Physical properties of materials, theory and experiment
Resistance, magneto-resistance, susceptibility, heat capacity, others

Bocklage-et-al-2021-Coherent-control-collective-nuclear-quantum

Heeg-et-al-2021-Coherent-X-ray−optical-control-of-nuclear-excitons

Class Notes Oct 10 (2023)

Class Notes Oct 12 (2023)

 

Week #9)

10/15 - 10/17

Quantum properties of materials - I 

Quantum properties of materials – II

 

Introduction to the Quantum Design PPMS (Eo, Duncan, Lin)
Lock-in amplification 

Copper Hall Effect:  Cu_Hall-Effect

Cu HE Results:  Cu_Hall-Results

Electrical Transport Option Measurement Types: ETO Manual

Resistivity Option Measurement Types:  Resistivity Manual

10/15 & 10/17:  Science 204

Quantum Oscillations

Dynacool

Lock-in amplifier and resistivity measurements

Sample Wiring

Measurements of magnetoresistance, Hall conductance (Duncan, Eo, Lin)
susceptibility, and other physical properties using the Quantum
Designs PPMS

magnetic_field_safety_guide_2022

PPMS_SOP_v2

 

Week #10)

10/22 - 10/24

Measurement of physical properties of materials

Quantum Design PPMS and lock-in amplification

 

Quantum Hall Effect Measurements (Eo, Duncan, Lin)
2D electrons and topological effects in quantum materials

Hall Effect,  van der Pauw-Hall Option:  User's Manual

van der Pauw-Hall Example:  van der Pauw-Hall

 

Custom measurements using the PPMS
Measurements of the Pt quantum dot array using the PPMS
Continuation of Pt quantum dot array measurements 

Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) option: VSM

Specific Heat Capacity Option:  Specific Heat

10/22: & 10/24:  Science 204

Lattice-Confined Fusion, Quantum Nucleonics, & Nanonuclear Physics

 

Week #11)

10/29 - 10/31

Superconductivity, magnetic flux quantization, and Josephson effects

HiTc superconductors, SQUIDs, and Shapiro steps 

 

Magnetic susceptibility measurements with coils & SQUIDs (Duncan, Lin)

10/29:  Science 204

10/31:  ESB 153

Mr. SQUID® : Reading materials for Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) 

Magnetic inductance and kinetic inductance (Duncan)
Superconductivity: Macroscopic quantum coherence
Measuring magnetic and thermal properties of superconductors

Demonstration-of-an-Ultra-Stable-Thermal-Platform_III-Read-Only

Klemme_PdMn_JLTP_1999

Nelson-et-al-JLTP

poster

 

Additional Reading:

More SQUID-based quantum sensing
SQUID-based proximity measurements and STEP

ConceptOfHeterodyne_20221127

Lock_In_Amplifier_SM2014_2

QuantumSensingRoadmap

RFagaly_SQUID_intr_applications

Superfluid Transition in 4He Driven Far From Equilibrium

 

London moment, rotor precession, and Gravity Probe B

 

Week #12)

11/05 - 11/07

Student Presentations

 

Additional Reading:

Competition between superconductivity and magnetism (Duncan)
High-Temperature superconductors and ‘Mr. SQUID’

Superconductivity:  YCBO 1    YCBO 2     YCBO 3  

11/05 & 11/07:  Various (Student Projects)

Student Projects

 

Additional Reading:

3D Printing

Autodesk

Quantum sensing using Josephson Junction technology
Flux-locked loops (Duncan, Lin)
Electromagnetic radiation detection
Stewart – McCumber Model of Josephson Junctions
Shapiro steps / SIS quasiparticle mixers 

Mr SQUID MS-FLL Manual:  MS-FLL Manual

Additional Reading for Mr SQUID can be found under the week 11 modules

 

Week #13)

11/12 - 11/14

 

Student Presentations

 

Additional Reading:

Operation of NIST Josephson Array
Voltage Standards

11/12 & 11/14:  Various (Student Projects)

Macroscopic quantum circuits containing SQUIDs (Duncan)
Fundamental physics measurements using these techniques
Ultra-precise temperature and power dissipation measurements

Barmatz-et-al-2007

ChattoQFS2006

Day-et-al-PRL-1998

Moeur-et-al-PRL-1997

"The Nobel Laureate vs The Graduate Student"

Superconducting Qubits and the Physics of
Josephson Junctions

Demo_Ultra-Stable_Thermal_Platform

Green_Sergatskov_Duncan_JLTP

Dunlap_Duncan_JApplPhys

 

Week #14)

11/19 - 11/21

Student presentations

11/19 & 11/21:  Various (Student Projects)

 

Additional Reading:

Mean-field theory, exchange, and critical phenomena
Superfluidity, SOC, Non-equilibrium superfluids
Superfluid Helium Inertial Gyroscopes (SHIGs)

Dunlap-and-Duncan-JApplPhys-1992

NIST Voltage Array Standard

11/28 - Thanksgiving Break

Week #15)

11/26 - 11/28

Student presentations

11/26:  Physics 203

11/28:  No Class

Student presentations

 

Week #16)

12/03 - 12/05

Student Presentations

12/03:  Physics 203

Class summary and future research opportunities (Duncan)

Last day of class: Dec 03

Week #17)

12/10 - 12/12

    Term Ends on 12/xx