Events

Should physics departments offer special physics courses for teachers? If so, why? how? Should physics faculty integrate physics and literacy learning in such courses? If so, why? how? Should physics faculty integrate physics and literacy learning in ALL courses? If so, why? how? These issues will be discussed in the context of Physics 111, a course designed for prospective elementary and middle school teachers. Students explore physics and learning in ways that prepare them to engage children in learning science. The emphasis is on questioning, predicting, exploring, and discussing.

Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is a method to simulate a
desired probability distribution via constructing a Markov chain whose
stationary distribution is the one we are looking for. Mixing time
describes the rate of convergence of a Markov chain to its stationary
distribution. We will give examples of Gibbs sampling algorithms (also
known as Glauber dynamics). We will explain how strong stationary time
and coupling are used to obtain bounds on mixing time. We will also
discuss new approaches to coupling method and their applications.

In the context of providing an effective capstone experience in experimental process design, with funding from NSF and the Intel Faculty Fellows Program, we have developed two virtual process laboratories, the Virtual Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) laboratory and the Virtual BioReactor laboratory. In a virtual laboratory, simulations based on mathematical models implemented on a computer can replace the physical laboratory. Since real systems do not deterministically adhere to fundamental models, random and systematic process and measurement variation are added to the output.

Electronic structure calculations of materials are increasingly useful nowadays with new algorithms and computational methods, and advances in solid state theory. Many properties of materials can now be determined directly from first-principles calculations, providing new insightful and critical information in physics and materials science. Today’s talk will focus on two topics, Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors (DMS) for spintronics and semiconductor nanostructures for hot carrier solar cells.

Organic semiconductors have attracted considerable attention due to low cost, easy fabrication, and tunable properties. A number of applications based on organic semiconductors (that include organic light-emitting diodes and thin-film transistors) are already on the market, and recent developments in the field, which I will review, promise more to come. Of special technological interest are solution-processable materials that can be cast into thin films.

Current microelectronic devices and systems offer an ever-increasing complement of capabilities packaged in an ever-decreasing physical size, and future prospects on envisioned capability and functionality show no indications of slowing this trend. To meet these technological demands, it is likely that a new set of materials will need to accompany new device designs. Our research addresses this need through structure-process-property investigations of multi-functional oxide films.

"Discovering the Scientist Within", the annual Science and Engineering Workshop for Middle School Girls is scheduled for Saturday, November 7, 2009. The event brings local middle school girls to campus for a morning of activities related to science and engineering. The highlight is experiencing science by taking tours of various science labs.

Physics education research (PER) has resulted in new materials, approaches to teaching, and theoretical understanding of student learning in physics. PER has influenced practices in introductory physics courses, impacting tens of thousands of students, and a growing number of current and future teachers. While the field has demonstrated positive effects in many instances, remarkably little work has gone into understanding how research-based, educational reforms are replicated and sustained. This talk will begin by discussing the curricular choices we have made at CU Boulder, and why.

The effective modeling of electromagnetic waves on unbounded domains by numerical techniques, such as the finite difference or the finite element method, is dependent on the particular absorbing boundary condition used to truncate the computational domain. In 1994, J. P. Berenger created the perfectly matched layer (PML) technique for the reflection-less absorption of electromagnetic waves in the time domain. The PML is an absorbing layer that is placed around the computational domain of interest in order to attenuate outgoing radiation.

At most universities, including the University of Colorado, upper-division physics courses are taught using a traditional lecture approach that does not make use of many of the instructional techniques that have been found to improve student learning at the introductory level. We are transforming an upper-division E&M course using principles of active engagement and learning theory, guided by the results of observations, interviews, and analysis of student work at CU and elsewhere.

BaCuChF (Ch = S, Se, Te) is a non-oxide wide-bandgap p-type semiconductor. This combination of properties is quite rare, but very desirable for applications in optoelectronic devices, such as CdTe and CIGS solar cells, organic bulk heterojunction solar cells and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Realization of BaCuChF in these thin film devices requires a fundamental understanding of its surface and interfacial properties. The first part of my talk will be focused on basic principles of x-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy techniques (XPS/UPS).