CDI Type I:Collaborative Research: Cyber Enabled Investigation of Quantum Dots, Stacked Quantum Dots, and Quantum Posts

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This research project creates a multidisciplinary intellectual partnership with the goal of designing transformative computation-based methods for the simulation of quantum dots (QDs) growth by molecular beam epitaxy. This research enables a better understanding of the kinetics and thermodynamics during the growth of quantum dots allowing for an improved control of the positioning, growth and size distribution in QD structures. The project combines expertise in materials science with state-of-the-art algorithm design for partial differential equations and moving boundary problems. This research impacts scientific and industrial communities that make use of QDs as single photon emitters or make use of the carrier spins to develop and manipulate q-bits. Outcomes help guide experiments, and the design and manufacture of new optical and electronic devices, such as QDs photonic crystal lasers, nonvolatile storage, laser scalpel and optical coherence tomography for use in medicine, and QD-based product enhancements in the energy sector. The impact on computational science is important for the simulation and design of diffusion dominated processes, moving boundary problems, and multiscale modeling where macroscopic behaviors are simulated while incorporating microscopic rates. The research program involves the training of two students, including one student with Latino background. The research program also fosters the development of an interactive web-based computational lab for students to experiment with computational tools. In addition, advances made through this research program are disseminated through the Materials Research Laboratory at University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the California Nano Science Institute at both UCLA and UCSB. This award is part of the Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation program, and the recipients are Frederic Gibou of UCSB and Christian Ratsch of UCLA.