My research interests include self-consistent electronic structure calculations, semi-empirical computer simulations, and model studies of many-body systems. Specifically, my students and I are (a) exploring new physical phenomena by examining the interplay between the boundary conditions and electron-electron interaction in low dimensional materials, (b) studying semi-empirically the dynamics of crystal growth and (c) performing model calculations for interacting boson systems.
For (a), in 1990, we developed a powerful method (which treats the electron-electron interaction self-consistently) for studying electronic systems in dc electric and magnetic fields and with exotic boundary conditions. Since then, we have been carrying out calculations to extract new physical features relevant to the electron transport in nanostructures. The exciting aspect of this project is that we are tailoring physical systems to test quantum mechanical concepts.
For (b), we are applying a semi-empirical approach (the Embedded Atom Method) developed by a collaborator at Sandia National Laboratories to understand the dynamics of growth on transition metal surfaces. Our interests concern the basic physical effects, such as how the substrate affects the growth process? How and where a few atoms - adatoms - bond to the substrate to form nucleation centers for new growth? What are the factors deciding the bond strength between the adatoms?
For (c), one of the intriguing questions for molecular crystals is: under what condition the vibrational modes (phonons) can be localized on the molecules or propagated through the crystals. In 1981, we proposed a model Hamiltonian; which is now called the Kimball-Fong-Shen model Hamiltonian, and predicted a diagram showing the transition between the local vibrations and the phonons. Recently, an experimental group published results which essentially reproduced our prediction. We are continuing this project for studying other nonlinear physical properties.
E-mail fong@physics.ucdavis.edu
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