Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

Engineering The Ground State Of Complex Oxides, Derek Joseph Meyers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Transition metal oxides featuring strong electron-electron interactions have been at the forefront of condensed matter physics research in the past few decades due to the myriad of novel and exciting phases derived from their competing interactions. Beyond their numerous intriguing properties displayed in the bulk they have also shown to be quite susceptible to externally applied perturbation in various forms. The dominant theme of this work is the exploration of three emerging methods for engineering the ground states of these materials to access both their applicability and their deficiencies.

The first of the three methods involves a relatively new set …

Atomic Roughness Enhanced Friction On Hydrogenated Graphene, Yalin Dong, Xiawa Wu, Ashlie Martini

Dr. Yalin Dong

Atomic friction on hydrogenated graphene is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Hydrogenation is found to increase friction significantly, and the atomic-level information provided by the simulations reveals that atomic roughness induced by hydrogenation is the primary cause of the friction enhancement. Other proposed mechanisms, specifically adhesion and rigidity, are excluded based on the simulation results and analyses performed using the Prandtl–Tomlinson model. In addition, it is found that friction does not monotonically increase with hydrogen coverage on the graphene surface; instead, a maximum friction is observed at a hydrogen coverage between 5 and 10%.