Physics Materials and Nanoscience (PMNS) Lab
The Physics Materials and Nanoscience (PMNS) Lab at SDSU houses state-of-the-art research facilities to carry out cutting-edge research in novel magnetic materials. Primarily, materials in the form of bulk ingots, single-crystalline films and nanostructured particles for permanent magnets, spintronic devices, magnetic refrigeration and biomedical applications are developed. The PMNS Lab provides physics undergraduates with important research skills in materials synthesis and characterization, preparing them for quality graduate programs or industry jobs.
Lab Facilities (Crothers Engineering Hall 350)
The facilities in the PMNS lab include:
- Materials Preparation - two sputtering systems to fabricate multi-layered thin film structures;
- X-ray structural characterization;
- Thermal treatment under controlled environment in ultra-high vacuum;
- Electrical and Magnetic properties characterization in 50K – 1000K;
- Optical property characterization.
Grants Internal to SDSU
- Title: Research Experience for Physics Undergraduates on Novel Magnetic Materials
- Granting Agency: Office of Academic Affairs, SDSU
- Award start and end date: 11/1/2014 and 6/30/2015
- Total project funding award: $5,550
- Title: Structural, Magnetic and Electron Transport Properties of Rapidly Quenched CoFeCrAl Nanostructures
- Granting Agency: Office of Academic Affairs, SDSU (Dissemination)
- Award start and end date: 11/1/2014 and 6/30/2015
- Total project funding award: $1,500
- Title: Structural and magnetic properties of CoFeCrSi Heusler alloy
- Granting Agency: Office of Academic Affairs, SDSU (Dissemination)
- Award start and end date: 11/1/2015 and 6/30/2016
- Total project funding award: $1,500
- Title: Experimental investigation of spin gapless semiconducting materials
- Granting Agency: Office of Academic Affairs, SDSU
- Award start and end date: 11/1/2015 and 6/30/2016
- Total project funding award: $2,650
- Title: Effect of disorder in the structural and magnetic properties of spin-gapless semiconducting Heusler alloys
- Granting Agency: Office of Research Assurance and Sponsored Programs, SDSU
- Award start and end date: 04/1/2016 and 03/31/2017
- Total project funding award: $2,150
- Title: Effect of Fe Substitution for Ti on the Structural, Magnetic and Electronic Band Properties of Half-metallic Co2TiSi
- Granting Agency: Office of Academic Affairs, SDSU (Dissemination)
- Award start and end date: 11/1/2016 and 6/30/2017
- Total project funding award: $2,040
Grants External to SDSU
- Title: Acquisition of a Transmission Electron Microscope
- PI: Zhengrong Gu; Technical Support: Parashu Kharel
- Granting Agency: NSF
- Award start and end date: 09/2014-08/2017
- Total project funding award: $1,210,576
- Title: NSF-MRSEC summer research program
- Granting Agency: NSF/Nebraska MRSEC
- Award start and end date: 06/2014-08/2014
- Total project funding award: $20,000
- Title: Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN) summer research program
- Granting Agency: NCMN through ARO grant
- Award start and end date: 06/2015-08/2015
- Total project funding award: $14,000
- Title: NSF-NNCI funded Nebraska Nanoscale Facility (NNF), Professor/Student Pair Summer Research program
- Granting Agency: NSF/NNF
- Award start and end date: 06/2016-08/2016
- Total project funding award: $20,000
- Title: NSF-NNCI funded Nebraska Nanoscale Facility (NNF), Professor/Student Pair Summer Research program
- Granting Agency: NSF/NNF
- Award start and end date: 06/2017-08/2017
- Total project funding award: $15,000
