Conference/Collaborative Research: First International Conference on Phononic Crystals, Metamaterials and Optomechanics; Santa Fe, New Mexico; May 29-June 1 2011

University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Investigators

Abstract

This grant provides funds for a student paper competition and travel fellowships for graduate students from US universities to attend and participate in Phononics 2011: The First International Conference on Phononic Crystals, Metamaterials, and Optomechanics, to be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 29 through June 2, 2011). The study of phonons - although a core discipline in the conventional condensed matter physics literature - is currently being viewed in a new light. Whether examined at the nanoscale, microscale or larger scales, the analysis and manipulation of phonons (aka phononics) is opening up a new technological frontier with a potential impact that could match that of electronics almost half a century ago. This conference is the world's first conference to bring together the various sub-disciplines related to the study of phonons across the various length scales. The conference covers the following seven themes: (1) phononic crystals, (2) phononic metamaterials, (3) wave propagation in periodic structures, (4) nanoscale phonon transport, (5) phononic MEMS and RF applications, (6) optomechanics, and (7) characterization and fabrication for phononics. Through this grant NSF supports the conference by (1) provision of travel fellowships for graduate students from US universities to attend and participate in the conference; and (2) sponsorship of a student paper competition, coordinated by the conference organizing committees, for Best, Second Best and Third Best Paper. This support helps the conference in its mission to establish links among the broad and multidisciplinary US and international scientific communities working in phononics, and enhances the educational mission of the conference by encouraging the participation of numerous US-based students pursuing graduate studies in areas directly related to this emerging field.