Date/Time
Date(s) - 22/11/2006
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Title: Nanostructured Surfaces – Surfaces of Nanostructures: Adventures in Not-Quite-Flat-Land

Speaker: Dr. Peter Kruse

Institute: McMaster University

Location: ABB 102

Description:

Das Volumen des Festkoerpers wurde von Gott geschaffen, seine Oberflaeche aber wurde vom Teufel gemacht.” (God made solids, but surfaces were the work of the devil.) – Wolfgang Pauli. In two dimensions, at surfaces and interfaces, the world looks different and matter takes on unique properties. Surface scientists – chemists, physicists and engineers alike – have been studying flat surfaces for a number of decades now. While zero- or one-dimensional defects on these surfaces have always played a role, the concepts of nanostructured surfaces or surfaces of nanoscale non-flat objects have only recently been explored more deeply. This has made surface science a significant driving force of nanoscience, but it has also changed surface science itself. In this talk, I will share some of the adventures of our research group here at McMaster over the last four years, reaching from migrating steps on flat gold surfaces over nanoscale dimple arrays on tantalum to the curved sidewall surfaces of carbon nanotubes.