Center for Emerging Energy Sciences
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 2025 (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-Einstein 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 |
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Week #1) 08/26 - 08/28 |
Apparatus fabrication overview Machining, 3D printing, resin printing, laser cutting, and printing |
08/26 & 08/28: Science 204 Introduction to the class, grading, laboratory safety Discuss the Physics Today article on Josephson and Bardeen <Need Link>
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Term Begins on 08/25 |
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Week #2) 09/02 - 09/04 |
Apparatus fabrication overview Introduction to self-assembly of nanoparticles Nanomaterials safety Links: HP-2440 CO2 Laser Cutter and Engraver
Preparing for next week: |
09/02: Science 204 09/04: Reese B61 (carpool to Reese) More on size dependence in physics
Presentations: |
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Week #3) 09/09 - 09/11 |
Nanoparticle synthesis and experimentation Demonstration of advanced instrumentation design Quantum Nucleonics Nono-nuclear energy technology Fission-fragment rocket (FFR) |
09/09 & 09/11: Science 204 Techniques for producing nanoparticles in the lab (Duncan, Adeosun) Recapturing-a-Future-for-Space-Exploration Presentation 08/24: Aug25_Fall_5300-19.pdf |
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Week #4) 09/16 - 09/18 |
Nuclear measuements and nuclear laboratory safety Radiation Detection CR-39 for alpha particle and neutron track analysis Gamma neutron spectroscopy Tritium analysis
Preparing for future weeks: Imaging nanoparticles with TEM TEM: H7650 Hitachi TEM: H9500 |
09/16 & 09/18: ESB 153 Tritium assays / P&E Quantulus instrument (Duncan, Lin)
Quantum dot arrays and applications (Duncan, Lin, Zhao) |
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Week #5) 09/23 - 09/25 |
Continuation of materials from last week
Introduction to the Zeiss Crossbeam 540 SEM and FIB Zeiss XB: Zeiss-Crossbeam
More SEM / FIB lab (Duncan, Lin, Zhao) Hitachi S3400: Student Operating Instructions |
09/23: & 09/25: Science 204 Introduction to how and why physical size matters |
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Week #6) 09/30 - 10/02 |
Continuation of the materials from last week Continuation on nanodot array fabrication Oxford EDS: Elemental Analysis |
09/30 & 10/02: Guest Lecture Guest Lecture: Prof. Yun Suk Eo: degenerate 2D electron gasses Guest Lecture / Lab: Prof. Yun Suk Eo: Quantum Hall Effect
-- Wire bonding (Duncan, Eo, Lin Zhao) |
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Week #7) 10/07 - 10/09 |
Robotic imaging, wide-area mapping, and AI Design and fabrication of nanodot arrays in platinum using FIB |
10/07 & 10/09: Imaging Center (IC) Advanced techniques in SEM: Radiation detection |
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Week #8) 10/14 - 10/16 |
Completion of electronic imaging and FIB nanofabrication How size matters in classical physics
Additional Reading: Mossbauer effect and nuclear spectroscopy |
10/14 & 10/16: IC Design and fabrication of nanodot arrays in platinum using FIB Completion of electronic imaging and FIB nanofabrication
Additional Reading: Mossbauer effect and nuclear spectroscopy TriCarb_Reference_Manual_for_Windows_10 Physical properties of materials, theory and experiment Bocklage-et-al-2021-Coherent-control-collective-nuclear-quantum Heeg-et-al-2021-Coherent-X-ray−optical-control-of-nuclear-excitons |
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Week #9) 10/21 - 10/23 |
Quantum properties of materials - I Quantum properties of materials – II
Introduction to the Quantum Design PPMS (Eo, Duncan, Lin) 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 |
10/21: IC 10/23: Science 204 Bell’s Inequality, EPR Paradox, Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Lock-in amplifier and resistivity measurements Measurements of magnetoresistance, Hall conductance (Duncan, Eo, Lin) |
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Week #10) 10/28 - 10/30 |
Measurement of physical properties of materials Quantum Design PPMS and lock-in amplification
Quantum Hall Effect Measurements (Eo, Duncan, Lin) Hall Effect, van der Pauw-Hall Option: User's Manual van der Pauw-Hall Example: van der Pauw-Hall
Custom measurements using the PPMS Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) option: VSM Specific Heat Capacity Option: Specific Heat |
10/28: & 10/30: Science 204 Survey of quantum computing and quantum sensing efforts Superconductivity, magnetic flux quantization, and Josephson effects
Lattice-Confined Fusion, Quantum Nucleonics, & Nanonuclear Physics |
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Week #11) 11/04 - 11/06 |
Superconductivity, magnetic flux quantization, and Josephson effects HiTc superconductors, SQUIDs, and Shapiro steps
Magnetic susceptibility measurements with coils & SQUIDs (Duncan, Lin) |
11/04 & 11/06: Science 118 Guest Lecture: Prof. Yun Suk Eo, Transport theory / measurements Guest Lecture and Lab : Prof. Yun Suk Eo, Transport measurements
-- Reading for Next Week: Mr. SQUID® : Reading materials for Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) Magnetic inductance and kinetic inductance (Duncan) Demonstration-of-an-Ultra-Stable-Thermal-Platform_III-Read-Only
Additional Reading: More SQUID-based quantum sensing RFagaly_SQUID_intr_applications Superfluid Transition in 4He Driven Far From Equilibrium
London moment, rotor precession, and Gravity Probe B |
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Week #12) 11/11 - 11/13 |
Additional Reading: Competition between superconductivity and magnetism (Duncan) |
11/11: Science 204 11/13: ESB 153 Theory and operation of SQUIDs and SQUID circuits Operation of SQUIDS -- Additional Reading: Quantum sensing using Josephson Junction technology Mr SQUID MS-FLL Manual: MS-FLL Manual Additional Reading for Mr SQUID can be found under the week 11 modules |
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Week #13) 11/18 - 11/20 |
Additional Reading: |
11/18: ESB153 11/20: Science 204 Shapiro steps, flux-locking SQUIDs, other applications Other quantum sensors – Rydberg Sensors, Diamond NV Sensors, etc
-- Macroscopic quantum circuits containing SQUIDs (Duncan) "The Nobel Laureate vs The Graduate Student" Superconducting Qubits and the Physics of |
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Week #14) 11/25 - 11/27 |
Student Lab Projects |
11/25: Science 204 11/27: NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Additional Reading: Mean-field theory, exchange, and critical phenomena |
11/28 - Thanksgiving Break |
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Week #15) 12/02 |
Student presentations |
12/02: Science 204 Student Lab Projects |
Last day of class: Dec 03 |
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Department of Physics and Astronomy
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Address
Texas Tech University, Physics & Astronomy Department, Box 41051, Lubbock, TX 79409-1051 -
Phone
806.742.3767 | Fax: 806.742.1182 -
Email
physics.astronomy.webmasters@ttu.edu | physics.academic.advising@ttu.edu