Contact Information
Department of Physics525 Northwestern Avenue
West Lafayette, IN
47907-2036
Map and Directions
Telephone:
(765) 494-2970
Fax:
(765) 494-0706
Condensed Matter Physics – Experimental Research
The goals of Condensed Matter Physics consist in understanding how atoms aggregate to form materials and how electrons ultimately determine and shape the vast assortment of possible states of matter. While pragmatically the ultimate purpose of Condensed Matter Physics is to determine experimentally, predict theoretically and tailor the properties of natural or artificial materials, from a more fundamental point of view great interest rests in making advances in the newest of frontiers, that of the physics of complex systems.
While many of the basic interactions at work in aggregates of atoms and electrons are in principle known, the sheer magnitude of the number of degrees of freedom involved leads to the emergence of completely unexpected and qualitatively new physical behavior. Accordingly the study of Condensed Matter Physics involves not only the continuous introduction of innovative observational and fabrication techniques and devices, but also that of new physical ideas and insight in the fascinating way in which large assembly of atoms behave.
Recent developments in the field like the discovery of high temperature superconductors, the scanning tunneling microscopy, the quantum Hall effects, the Bose-Einstein condensation in atoms and the recent emergence of the nano physics paradigm have led and promise to further enhance our understanding and use of technologically relevant materials ranging from semiconductors, metals, insulators and superconductors. This makes this broad and ever flourishing field the engine of intriguing, accelerating technological advances and discoveries.
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