DMP

Nanostructures and Metamaterials: Synthesis, Fabrication, and Characterization

Shaping materials on the sub-wavelength scale allows for an unprecedented control over light-matter interaction. Carbon nanomaterials, quantum-confined semiconductor nanostructures, and plasmonic metal nanoparticles all have size- and shape-dependent optical properties, while metamaterial structures provide unique opportunities to control electromagnetic radiation at all frequencies, from optical and infrared to terahertz and microwave. This focus topic aims to bring together experimental and theoretical colleagues from different disciplines to advance our understanding of novel optical phenomena in nanosystems and engineered composite media.

Organizers:
Matthew Pelton
Argonne National Laboratory
Email: pelton@anl.gov

David Smith
Duke University
Email: drsmith@duke.edu

DMP

Electron, Ion, and Exciton Transport in Nanostructures

Most of the novel device technologies rely on processes involving charge, mass, or energy transport through layered materials system. This focus topic will address fundamental challenges and new opportunities to understand and control electron, ion, and exciton transport in nanostructures, with a particular interest in the influence of interfaces between different materials and phases. Contributions are solicited in areas that reflect recent advances in experimental characterization and theory of transport mechanisms in inorganic nanoscale structures. Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to: experimental and theoretical studies of transport properties of nanostructures and ultrathin films, understanding the dynamics of interfacial charge transfer processes, electron and ion transport through interfaces between metals, oxides and/or semiconductors, and studies addressing memory effects in resistive and capacitive systems.

Organizers:
Blanka Magyari-Kope
Stanford University
Email: blankamk@stanford.edu

Seungbum Hong
Argonne National Laboratory
Email: hong@anl.gov

DMP

Complex Oxide Interfaces and Heterostructures

The ability to achieve atomically precise interfaces between complex oxide compounds provides a platform to explore novel ground states through advances in materials physics, chemistry and theory, providing exciting directions for fundamental and applied research. Successes include stabilizing phases at the interface, which are absent in the bulk constituent oxides combined to create the heterostructure: magnetism, superconductivity ferroelectricity, orbitally ordered states, and two-dimensional electron gases along with examples of electric-field control over metal-insulator transitions. Crucial features of these artificial materials include elastic strain, cation ordering, changes in symmetry and superlattice periodicity—features that modify the stability of new phases emerging in proximity to an interface due to interface-mediated interplay between the electronic, orbital, spin, and structural degrees of freedom. This focus topic aims at bringing together experimental and theoretical researchers working on all aspects of interface-related behavior in complex oxide materials. This includes the growth and characterization of oxide heterostructures, development and application of new interface-related measurement techniques, experiment and theory related to interface-induced changes in physical properties and new or modified interface-mediated macroscopic responses or collective states. Especially welcome are abstracts focusing on the search for new interface-related phenomena and the use of oxide interfaces as a test-bed for rational design of materials with desirable electronic, magnetic, and transport properties for technological applications.

There is some overlap in topic with other focus topics related to complex oxide materials; as a rule of thumb, if the interface plays a key role in the investigation or the properties observed, then the talk is appropriate for this focus topic.

Organizers:
James Rondinelli
Drexel University
Email: jrondinelli@coe.drexel.edu

John Freeland
Argonne National Laboratory
Email: freeland@aps.anl.gov

Guus Rijnders
University of Twente
Email: a.j.h.m.rijnders@utwente.nl

DMP/GERA/
FIAP

Thermoelectric Phenomena, Materials, Devices, and Applications

Solid-state thermoelectric devices can directly convert energy between heat and electricity and can be used for either cooling or power generation. For conventional thermoelectric devices based on the Seebeck effect and Peltier effect, the energy conversion efficiency depends on the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of the material, which is defined as ZT = S² T/ k where S, , k, and T are the Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and absolute temperature, respectively. Although there is no fundamental upper limit to ZT, over the last 50 years the ZT of commercially available materials has increased only marginally, from about 0.6 to slightly above unity. The goal of this session is to bring together scientists working on both bulk and nanostructured thermoelectric materials to examine the approaches and infuse cross-disciplinary themes for increasing ZT of thermoelectric materials and to discuss other solid-state thermoelectric energy conversion approaches. Topics will range broadly from the fundamentals to the applications of thermoelectric transport phenomena and materials physics and chemistry.

Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

• Theoretical and experimental investigations of the thermoelectric effects and electron transport phenomena in thermoelectric materials, for example novel electronic structure features that lead to enhanced Seebeck coefficient as well as the recently discovered Spin-Seebek effect.
• Fundamental understanding of thermal transport by phonons, electrons, magnons, and other energy carriers, including approaches to suppressing the lattice thermal conductivity by anharmonicity, nano- or complex structures, or other mechanisms.
• Computational design and chemical synthesis of bulk and nanostructured thermoelectric materials, including both known thermoelectric materials such as those based on PbTe, Bi₂Te₃, and SiGe, and other less known thermoelectric materials especially earth-abundant materials.
• Device physics and interface physics, including innovations in device architectures based on different thermoelectric effects.
• Applications of thermoelectric devices ranging from nanoscale spot cooling to large scale vehicle waste heat recovery and solar energy utilization.

Organizers:
Li Shi
University of Texas-Austin
Email: lishi@mail.utexas.edu

Austin Minnich
California Institute of Technology
Email: aminnich@caltech.edu

David Singh
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Email: a.j.h.m.rijnders@utwente.nl

DMP

Mesoscopic Materials and Devices

The scope of this Focus Topic is the study of mesoscale materials, that are in the regime where classical, microscale and nanoscale science meet. It spans two areas: (i) facilities and tools needed to make, characterize and describe mesoscale materials, and (ii) new mesoscale phenomena and functionality. In particular, contributions describing new results in the following areas are solicited:

• Mesoscale synthesis: high-resolution electron lithography, focused ion beam (FIB) and scanning- force-microscopy (SFM) lithography, SFM-stimulated growth, imprint lithography, self-assembly.
• Mesoscale characterization: ballistic-electron emission microscopy (BEEM) and SFM, optical and tunneling, phase coherence, noise, THz and electro-luminescence studies in small structures.
• Mesostructures and devices: quantum wires and dots, ultra-scaled FETs, quantum single-electron transistors (SETS), magnetic and multiferroic, photonic and plasmonic, ferromagnetic and spin devices, superlattice arrays, molecular electronic, meso-electro-mechanical systems.
• Correlated electron systems: quantum chaos, non-equilibrium transport, instabilities, phase coherence and breaking, new developments in single and bilayer graphene, topological states of matter, quantum critical phenomena in metallic systems.
• Quantum-coherent transport: the quantum Hall effect, ballistic quantum systems, quantum-computing implementations and theory, coherence and decoherence, magnetic spin systems.

Organizers:
Ivan K. Schuller
University of California, San Diego
Email: ischuller@ucsd.edu

Yvan Bruynseraede
Catholic University-Leuven
Email: yvan.bruynseraede@fys.kuleuven.be

Mark Ratner
Northwestern University
Email: ratner@northwestern.edu

DMP

Nanostructure Control, Novel Stabilizing Mechanisms, and Collective Dynamics in Epitaxial Growth

This focus topic encompasses the ongoing investigation of epitaxial growth and nanostructure formation at surfaces and interfaces. The search to grow predictable nanoscale structures requires finding robust ways to control their dimensions, morphology, stability, and electronic properties. New properties can emerge on the nanoscale because of the reduced dimensionality, electron confinement, and low atom coordination. Ultrathin films, nanoislands, and quantum dots can be widely used in many areas in physics and material science relevant to microelectronics, spintronics, nanocatalysis, photonics, sensors, energy conversion, and computer memories. Hence, the session will be of interest to different communities aiming at nanostructure control. A particular emphasis this year regards the recognition that building these nanostructures using fast and error-free methods requires efficient mass transport; but conventional random-walk type diffusion is stochastic and based on the motion of single atoms. Recently, novel collective processes were found in several systems, with nanoislands and nanoscale complex patterns built exceedingly fast and in some cases well below room temperature. The characterization of these processes with several experimental techniques (LEEM, STM, surface diffraction, TEM, etc.) and their theoretical modeling will lead to better understanding of nanostructure formation. It will also stimulate the search to discover other systems where collective transport, nanostructure self-organization, and predictability of structural and electronic properties of nanostructures become attainable.

Organizers:
Michael C. Tringides
Iowa State University
Email: mctringi@iastate.edu

Shirley Chiang
University of California-Davis
Email: chiang@physics.ucdavis.edu

Bene Poelsema
University of Twente
Email: b.poelsema@utwente.nl

DCOMP

Modeling of Rare Events

Many dynamic processes in nature are in the form of rare events. The system spends most of its time in metastable states and only very rarely, hops from one metastable state to another. Understanding and modeling such rare transition events has been the subject of interest in physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and material sciences, to name a few. This session will bring together experts from different areas to discuss the current status of this exciting field. Theoretical, algorithmic and application issues will all be addressed.

Organizers:
Amit Samanta
Princeton University
213 Fine Hall
Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544
Email: asamanta@princeton.edu

Eric Vanden-Eijnden
Courant Institute
New York University
251 Mercer Street
New York, NY 10012
Email: eve2@cims.nyu.edu

DCOMP

Explicitly Correlated Methods and Quantum Few-Body Systems

Computational methods that utilize explicitly correlated wave functions have had a tremendous success in many areas of physics and quantum chemistry that deal with quantum few-body systems. They have provided standards of accuracy unattainable by other approaches. With increasing power of modern computers there is a significant interest in extending the application of such methods to new problems. The purpose of this focus session is to survey the recent research activity in the area and to provide a much-needed forum for physicists and chemists to share experience and discuss the theoretical and computational issues crucial to further development of the field.

Contributions spanning relevant theoretical developments and applications of the explicitly correlated methods will be solicited in the following fields:

• Atomic and molecular physics
• Quantum chemistry (including R12/F12 methods)
• Ultracold few-body systems, Efimov states
• Scattering problems
• Few-body systems in condensed matter
• Systems containing positrons and other exotic particles

Organizer:
Ludwik Adamowicz
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Department of Physics, University of Arizona
1306 East University Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85721
Phone: (520) 621-6607
Email: ludwik@u.arizona.edu

DCOMP

Full Configuration Interaction Quantum Monte Carlo Techniques

Because exactly solving fermionic problems scales exponentially, approximate fixed node QMC methods in the continuum have long been the de-facto standard for accurate electronic structure simulations. As computational power has increased, renewed effort has focused on decreasing the (albeit still exponential) cost of exact QMC approaches. The most recent such effort, Full Configuration Interaction Quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC), developed in the last few years involves combining annihilation with QMC in a discrete basis to partially attenuate this exponential variance. For small molecules and the homogeneous electron gas this has been shown to give exact results within a finite basis. This focus session focuses on FCIQMC and its extensions.

Organizer:
David M. Ceperley
University of Illinois
Email: ceperley@illinois.edu

DCOMP

Recent Developments in Density Functional Theory

The demands of modern materials science have fostered a need for understanding materials from their most basic level—the level of electrons. Density functional theory (DFT) is the most widely used electronic structure method, as the balance of computational costs and accuracy allows for ease of use and wide applicability. Over the years, its continued success has relied on new developments and—as the complexity of materials continues to grow—the need for further improvements has become increasingly important. In recent years, the vast array of topics in which DFT is being applied has resulted in a large number of new theories being developed. As such, with the needs for studying new phenomena and the on-going search for new materials to solve modern energy and technology-related problems, this focus session will bring together DFT practitioners and developers from many different arenas, allowing for the cross-pollination of ideas.

Organizer:
Timo Thonhauser
Department of Physics, Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Phone: (336) 758-3991
Email: thonhauser@wfu.edu

Valentino R. Cooper
Materials Science and Technology Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Phone: (865) 574-5164
Email: coopervr@ornl.gov

DCOMP

Lattice Strong Dynamics

Non-perturbative studies of non-abelian gauge theories coupled to several flavors of fermions in the fundamental or adjoint representation have become an area of intense research. Numerical studies have helped us understand how to look for the conformal window, with such studies primarily (but not limited to) the running coupling and the anomalous mass dimension. There are several collaborations and a significant amount of computer time in the US and abroad have been allocated to a study of these topics. In addition to an understanding of the relevance of such theories in LHC phenomenology, it also serves as a bridge to recent efforts in string theory. This focus session will bring together lattice gauge theorists working in various related topics ranging from SU(3) gauge theories coupled to several fundamental flavors, to large N gauge theories with fermions in the adjoint representation. Invited or contributed talks will range from conceptual developments to specific numerical results from large scale computations, and will help summarize the main physics results to a larger physics community.

Organizer:
Rajamani Narayanan
Department of Physics, Florida International University
Miami, FL 33199
Phone: (305) 348‐1012
Email: rajamani.narayanan@fiu.edu

DCOMP

Computational Studies of Heterostructures

As clean boundaries between materials become accessible it has become possible to “engineer” specific properties which result from interaction effects at interfaces. Experimental achievements include tunable 2D electron gases in oxide heterostructures, magnetoresistance at manganite interfaces, novel magnetic properties at boundaries between cuprate superconductors, and observation of magnetic proximity effect in Cu/CuO interfaces, to name just a few. At the same time, the newly developed standing wave photoemission spectroscopy method has opened a new measurement window into such systems, allowing a layer-by-layer profiling of the electronic properties. This focus session will explore the important role computational studies have played in understanding these new materials and experiments.

Organizer:
Shiwei Zhang
Physics Department, College of William and Mary
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Email: shiwei@physics.wm.edu

DCOMP

Computational Studies of Interactions between Electromagnetic Fields and Nanostructures

The advance of high power, high quality light sources offers unprecedented opportunities to investigate the interaction of electromagnetic fields and nanomaterials. The understanding and control of light-matter interaction is of considerable current interest both from technological and fundamental physics points of view. Various approaches have been developed to solve the time-dependent Schrödinger equations coupled to electric fields, but the description of electron dynamics in electromagnetic fields is still a challenge. Multiple time and length scales have to be bridged and a computational platform unifying quantum mechanics and the Maxwell equations has to be developed. The proposed focus session will overview the present state of art of computational methods and their applications to describe the interaction of light and metallic nanostructures, linear and nonlinear optical response, interaction of condensed matter and strong laser pulses, Coulomb explosion, and electron dynamics at the attosecond time scale. The computational methods over-arch powerful approaches ranging from time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) to finite-difference time-domain simulations. Owing to the interdisciplinary nature of this topic, we expect to attract contributions from a broad variety of areas, including plasmonics, strong-field atomic and molecular physics, graphene, semiconductor optics in bulk and nanostructures, photonics, and photochemistry, in each case focusing on the computational challenges involved.

Organizers:
Kalman Varga
Vanderbilt University
Email: kalman.varga@Vanderbilt.edu

Carsten Ullrich
University of Missouri

DCOMP/DMP/
GSCCM

Materials in Extremes: Bridging Simulation and Experiment

The behavior of matter under extreme conditions of high pressures, high temperatures, high strains, and high strain rates is a scientific issue of fundamental importance, which requires understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of materials response at the atomic, microstructural, and continuum levels. Recent developments in the experimental realization of such extreme conditions in the laboratory, advances in ultrafast and ultra-high spatial resolution characterization, extensive efforts to extend simulations to experimental time and length scales by utilizing both the enormous increases in computational power and new simulation methods, all promise new scientific discoveries and important technological breakthroughs.

This focus session, consisting of several invited and contributed talks, will assess recent experimental and computational efforts towards exploring the fundamental properties of materials at extreme conditions, including (1) high-pressure and high temperature synthesis and characterization of novel materials; (2) high strain rate phenomena occurring upon ultrafast energy deposition; (3) properties of matter in the warm dense regime; (4) ultrafast laser-matter interactions; (5) static high pressure and shock-induced materials behavior, including plasticity, phase transitions, and chemical reactions; (6) static and dynamic properties of energetic materials, including detonation phenomena; and (7) new computational methods including development of interatomic potentials and multi-scale simulations.

Organizers:
Ivan Oleynik
University of South Florida
Phone: (813) 974-8186
Email: oleynik@usf.edu

Tim Germann
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Phone: (505) 665-9772
Email: tcg@lanl.gov

GQI

Semiconductor Qubits

Qubits realized in semiconductors continue to make major advances in multiple materials. Spins in electrostatically defined quantum dots in both group-III-V and group-IV semiconductors, in optically-controlled self-assembled quantum dots, and bound to shallow impurities, have all witnessed coherent control with increasing fidelity and progress in the mitigation of decoherence. Recent developments include demonstrations of quantum logic in multiple dots, the analysis of robust methods for reducing charge and hyperfine noise effects, and improvements in device development and characterization. These developments all indicate strong progress for single and multiple coupled qubits across different semiconducting materials and control methods. This focus session is intended to draw together this progress, with interest in device fabrication, state initialization, read-out, demonstrations of coherent manipulation, and theoretical modeling.

Organizer:
Thaddeus Ladd

GQI

Quantum Error Correction and Decoherence Control

Fault-tolerant quantum error correction allows for reliable quantum computation given faulty components. This focus session will examine how control sequences can make components less faulty and how improved quantum error correction can handle larger errors. Potential topics range from topological codes and quantum block codes to dynamic decoupling and compensating pulse sequences.

Organizer:
Ken Brown

GQI

Adiabatic Quantum Computing

Adiabatic quantum computation is an alternative model of universal quantum computation with some advantages over the more common quantum circuit model. For instance, the control signals can be less precise, and computations might be more robust. Adiabatic transformations also play a role in several algorithms within the circuit model, such as state preparations using sequences of small transformations. A non-exclusive list of related topics is: adiabatic algorithms and algorithms composed of small transformations, gap scaling and quantum phase transitions, sufficient and necessary conditions for adiabatic approximations, error bounds, open system adiabatic theory, classical simulation of quantum annealing (such as Path integral Monte Carlo), performance estimation and no-go theorems for representative problems, theoretical and experimental adiabatic computation models.

Organizer:
Sergio Boixo

GQI

Superconducting Qubits

Superconducting technologies are of particular interest in the quest to build practical quantum computers. In these approaches to quantum computing one can achieve a balance between coherence and strong inter-qubit interactions, thus facilitating the exploration of a wide variety of potential processor architectures. Moreover, these systems hold the promise of a path to a scalable technology that exploits decades of fabrication development in semiconducting electronics. A large number of experiments have been done to date on small prototype circuits intended to demonstrate the fundamental viability of this technology. The results have been both encouraging and illuminating, but have highlighted a key scaling challenge: Translating successful small-scale proof-of-concept circuits into viable practical designs for large-scale quantum information processors. This Focus Session will explore ideas and experimental progress towards realizing practical superconducting quantum computers. Potential topics include scalable qubit and coupler designs, high fidelity readout, scalable control circuitry, quantum memory, and superconducting quantum processor architectures.

Organizer:
Richard Harris

GQI

Superselection and quantum reference frames

This session will bring together work that broadly encompasses the intersection of reference frames with quantum theory including the use of quantum reference frames as resources for overcoming superselection rules, as well as aspects of relativistic quantum information and applications of quantum phenomena that include relativistic frame-related corrections (e.g. space-based quantum communication). Both theoretical and experimental contributions are encouraged.

Organizer:
Ian Durham

GQI

Quantum Characterization, Verification, and Validation (QCVV)

The goal of a useful quantum computer is one of the most exciting challenges of our time. This session will focus on how to characterize and test the (faulty) quantum components needed to build a quantum information processor capable of running quantum computations -- either digital or analog -- with some reasonable probability of success. The ultimate goal of QCVV is a set of standards and procedures, together with experimental implementations and results, for achieving everything needed for fault tolerant quantum computation. We encourage representation from both theoretical and experimental work in all of the qubit technologies capable of performing quantum gates (ions, spins, JJs, photons, etc.). Submissions could include, as examples:

• New metrics, techniques, methods, and procedures for characterizing quantum components
• Experimental results and analysis
• Theory of fault tolerant quantum computation directly related to QCVV
• General techniques for improving the fidelity of quantum gates
• Work toward verification (i.e., did you build it?) and verification (i.e., did you build the right thing?) of quantum information processors

Organizer:
Charlie Tahan

GIMS

Instrumentation and Measurement Science for a Sustainable Energy Future

The APS Topical Group on Instrumentation and Measurement Science (GIMS) invites papers on advances in instrumentation development for energy and environmental research. The session will include papers on (1) novel materials characterization techniques (including electrical and optical) for renewable energy research; (2) new techniques and methods for environment and polution monitoring; (3) innovative tools for measuring renewable and fossil energy resources. The objective of the session is to bring together experts working in varous different dsciplines near the interface of physics, electrical engineering, physical chemistry, materials science, and energy technology.

Organizer:
Wim Geerts
GIMS Chair

GIMS

Novel Instrumentation & Measurements for Biomedical Research

Diseases, such as cancer, represent a tremendous burden of both economic and human impact. Recent progress in instrumentations and advanced measurements has set the stage to open a new frontier in biomedical research by enabling the convergence of the physical and engineering sciences with the life sciences and medicine. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has recently undertaken a concerted effort to explore novel and innovative approaches that will enable an understanding of the physical laws and principles that shape and govern the emergence and behavior of cancer at all scales. This focus topic session will feature invited presentation(s) from experts that are leading efforts at the intersection of biomedical research, physics, mathematics and engineering as well contributed talks reflecting the latest advances/techniques for elucidating various diseases. Moreover, the purpose of this session is to provide opportunities for intensive discussions and exchange of ideas by bringing together researchers working from various disciplines as well as educate the physics community about the potential impact to advance medicine.

Organizer:
Larry Nagahara
Office of Physical Sciences-Oncology
National Cancer Institute
Phone: (301) 451-3388
Email: larry.nagahara@nih.gov

GIMS

Advances in Scanned Probe Microscopy 1: Novel Approaches and Ultrasensitive Detection

The APS Topical Group on Instrumentation and Measurement (GIMS) invites papers on advances in Scanning Probe Microscopy and related instrumentation, with a focus on novel approaches and ultrasensitive detection. Advances in scanned probe force measurement and mapping exploiting novel tip-sample interactions, improved detection sensitivity and widening of circumstances under which they are applied continue to push the frontier in the measurement of a broad range of physical, chemical and biological systems. This session will focus on the continued innovative development of scanned probe microscopy and related instrumentation. Particular advances and applications are seen in new approaches to force detection and novel techniques for probing a variety of surfaces and interactions. This session seeks to bring together expertise from a variety of fields in scanned probe microscopy that will further the development of advanced instrumentation and measurement science focused on the atomic and nanometer scale.

Organizers:
Joe Stroscio
Eric Hudson

GIMS

Advances in Scanned Probe Microscopy 2: High Frequencies and Optical Techniques

The APS Topical Group on Instrumentation and Measurement (GIMS) invites papers on advances in Scanning Probe Microscopy and related instrumentation with a focus on optical techniques and radio-frequency measurements. A severe limitation in traditional scanning probe microscopy is low temporal resolution, originating from the diminished high-frequency response of readout circuitry. It was recently shown that some of these obstacles can be overcome. Recent advances in the combination of scanning probe and optical techniques have resulted for example in ultra-fast (sub-picosecond) temporal resolution and tip-enhanced Raman scattering. This session seeks to bring together expertise from a variety of fields in scanned probe microscopy and optical techniques that will further the development of advanced instrumentation and measurement science focused on the atomic and nanometer scale.

Organizers:
Joe Stroscio
Eric Hudson

GIMS

Advances in Scanned Probe Microscopy 3: Scanning Probes Spectroscopic Techniques

The APS Topical Group on Instrumentation and Measurement (GIMS) invites papers on advances in Scanning Probe Microscopy and related instrumentation with a focus on spectroscopic measurements on novel materials. The scanning tunneling microscope has matured over the last few years into a tool that is now routinely applied in energy-resolved measurement modes. The atomic-force microscope has recently been used to measure force-distance curves which give detailed information about atomic species on the surface and at the tip apex as a form of force spectroscopy. This session seeks to bring together expertise from a variety of aspects of scanned probe microscopy that will further the development of advanced instrumentation and measurement science focused on the atomic and nanometer scale spectroscopic measurement of new and novel materials.

Organizers:
Joe Stroscio
Eric Hudson

GIMS

X-ray and Neutron Instruments and Measurement Science

Papers on instrumentation including novel sample environments of extreme conditions for imaging, diffraction, and spectroscopies are invited. Papers on imaging of all types including radiography, phase, absorption, or speckle contrast, magnetic contrast, topography, and tomography are desired. Papers on diffraction and elastic scattering of all types including grazing incidence and small angle scattering from polymers, surfaces, crystals, and multilayers are desired. Papers on spectroscopies of all types including EXAFS, fluorescence, inelastic scattering, time resolved scattering, and spin-echo are desired. Papers from all users of x-ray and neutron radiation are invited.

Organizers:
Albert T. Macrander
Timothy J. Graber
Zahirul Islam
Janos Kirz
Terrence Jach

GIMS

Keithley Award Session

DMP/GIMS

Imaging and Modifying Materials Under Extreme Conditions of Radiation, Temperature, and at the Limits of Space and Time Resolution

This focus topic covers the rapidly evolving field of material modification and imaging/probing with high spatial and temporal resolution. The development of advanced imaging techniques capable for providing time-resolved information on the ultrafast structural and phase transformations is critical for gaining fundamental understanding of the material behavior far from the equilibrium and optimization of the conditions in the nanoscale material processing applications.

Topics of interest include:

• Measurement of temperature on microsecond time scales and resolutions in the micron range on shocked solids above 300K.
• Structural and electrical measurements under shock loading, imaging of phase transformations, fracture, shock formation, mechanical spallation at very high temperatures, in high radiation environments, and for dynamic experiments.
• Material response to intense optical excitation, ion/cluster bombardment, severe mechanical deformation induced by mechanical impact
• Photo/shock-induced phase transformations, generation of new metastable phases/structures (bulk, nano, surfaces)
• Transient modification of material properties by electronic excitation
• Mechanisms of mass and heat transfer under non-equilibrium conditions
• Laser processing below the diffraction limit, nano-patterning, micro- and nano-fabrication
• Computer modeling and theoretical analysis of transient material behavior far from equilibrium
• Tme-resolved experimental imaging of ultrafast processes, including optical pump-probe, x-ray and electron diffraction techniques, emerging techniques for femtosecond diffractive imaging using e.g. free-electron lasers or fast electron beams
• Time/spatially-resolved
• Imaging transient molecular dynamics in biological systems using free-electron X-ray lasers, and modeling of subsequent damage processes

Organizers:
Chris Jacobsen
Northwestern University
Email: c-jacobsen@northwestern.edu

Bernd Kabius
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Email: bernd.kabius@pnl.gov

Albert Migliori
Los Alamos National Laboratory

John Sarrao
Los Alamos National Laboratory

GERA/FIAP

Scalable Technologies for Photovoltaics

The symposium will focus on the science and technology innovations required to scale the production of energy from solar irradiation to the terawatt volumes required to meet the world’s energy demands. We seek abstracts on lower cost, energy efficient manufacturing, building-integration technologies, solar grid-integration, reliability, and storage methods, and abundant and/or reduced use of solar absorber, transparent conductor, or packaging materials needed for wide-scale deployment of photovoltaics, solar heating and cooling technologies, concentrated solar power, and hybrid systems. Scalable approaches to organic, dye sensitized, biomimetic, nanoparticle, thin-film compound, multijunction and silicon photovoltaics, solar concentrators, solar thermal technologies, and cross cutting approaches are welcome.

Organizer:
Sue Carter
University of California, Santa Cruz
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Phone: (831) 335-7595
Email: sacarter@ucsc.edu

GERA/DMP/
FIAP/DCOMP

Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage

The worldwide demand for energy storage continues to grow at unprecedented pace. Consumer and transportation applications dominate the market, but grid-storage needs are increasing as green energy technologies such as wind, and solar energy conversion become more prevalent. To meet these needs, electrochemical power sources that include batteries are providing a solution, but new advanced energy materials in such devices are needed to push beyond the barriers of current technologies. In this regard, the subject areas for this focus topic will cover a variety of electrochemical phenomena that encompass energy storage, but specifically new batteries that are lithium-ion, lithium-sulfur, lithium-air, redox flow batteries, as well as alternative multivalent and sodium-ion batteries. Other technologies such as ultracapacitors are included in the topic as these electrochemical devices are critical for absorbing or releasing power quickly. New chemistry and physical insights in materials for energy storage are especially encouraged. Other areas of interest to the topic that are also receiving recent attention: nanoarchitectures for energy storage, intercalation processes, modeling, new trends and techniques for measurements in-operando, and organic cathodes and anodes.

Organizers:
Chris Johnson
Argonne National Laboratory
Email: cjohnson@anl.gov

Shirley Meng
University of California, San Diego
Email: shirleymeng@ucsd.edu

GERA/DPOLY

Polymers for Energy Storage and Conversion

Advances in the development of polymeric materials and polymer based devices for energy applications have generated new knowledge, concepts and strategies for energy conversion, generation of light and energy storage. This symposium covers recent progress in these fields. Contributions are solicited for research related to the above topics such as utilizing multijunction polymer-based devices for solar energy conversion or light emission, polymer – nanofillers or multilayers for energy capture and conversion schemes including thermoelectrics, polymers as variable band gap materials, and polymeric materials for energy storage devices such as lithium ion batteries or capacitors. Theoretical, computational or experimental approaches are welcome.

Organizers:
Enrique Gomez
The Pennsylvania State University
106 Fenske Lab
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 689-9394
Email: edg12@psu.edu

Michael Chabinyc
University of California, Santa Barbara
Elings Hall Room 3219
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-4042
Email: mchabinyc@engineering.ucsb.edu

GERA/DPOLY/
DCOMP

Novel Photophysics and Transport Mechanisms for Nanostructured Photovoltaics

Quantum confined organic and inorganic assemblies can efficiently capture a broad range of solar radiation, and their novel properties may allow for rapid charge separation and transport through completely new mechanisms. This includes, but is not limited to, processes based on: plasmonics, photonics, superexchange, quantum and spin coherence, fusion/fission, multiple-exciton generation, polaronic and ionic mechanisms, electron-phonon coupling, phonon correlations. Quantitative agreement between prediction and measurement in this frontier area of photovoltaics is particularly important in order to precisely understand these fundamental processes. Computational and experimental contributions are therefore solicited which explore novel mechanisms for realizing improved separation and transport in inorganic, organic and hybrid assemblies.

Organizers:
Mark T. Lusk
Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines
1500 Illinois Street
Golden, CO 80401
Phone: (303) 273-3675
Email: mlusk@mines.edu

Sean Shaheen
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Denver
Phone: (303) 871-6695
Email: Sean.Shaheen@du.edu

Zhigang Wu
Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines
1500 Illinois Street
Golden, CO 80401
Phone: (303) 273-3068
Email: zhiwu@mines.edu

Richard Wiener
Research Corporation for Science Advancement
4703 E. Camp Lowell Drive
Tucson, AZ 85712
Phone: (520) 571-1111
Email: rwiener@rescorp.org

GPC

The Physics of Climate

This Focus Session marks the inauguration of the Topical Group on the Physics of Climate (GPC) at the APS March Meeting. The GPC promotes fundamental studies of climate physics. The GPC invites contributed talks on all aspects of climate physics. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Climate as a complex dynamical system
• Mechanisms, magnitudes, and timescales of processes that affect climate, including greenhouse gases, aerosols, solar variability, feedbacks involving clouds, water vapor, sea ice, hydrological and carbon cycles, and ocean-atmosphere interactions
• Physics of proxies used to infer past climate forcings and properties for which instrumental records are unavailable
• Computational and statistical analyses of climate models and measurement systems

Specific areas underlying these topics include, but are not limited to, fluid dynamics, nonlinear and complex systems, gas, condensed and interfacial phase behavior, radiation/heat transfer, phase transitions, measurement science, computational physics, statistics, biophysics, chemical physics and geophysics. Contributed talks should focus on climate physics, without reference to issues of policy, legislation, or society. The Focus Session may include one or more invited presentations.

Organizers:
Bob Behringer
Email: bob@phy.duke.edu

Dan Rothman
Email: dhr@mit.edu

Bob Ecke
Email: ecke@lanl.gov

Andy Kaldor
Email: apkaldor@aol.com

Jim Brasseur
Email: brasseur@psu.edu

FEd

Building a Thriving Undergraduate Physics Program

In June 2012, the APS hosted a workshop titled "Building a Thriving Undergraduate Physics Program." This focus session - with the same title - is intended as a follow-on to the workshop. The invited speaker will present an overview, while the contributed talks will describe particular program-building strategies adopted by individual physics departments.

Organizer:
Ted Hodapp
American Physical Society
Email: hodapp@aps.org