Join the Department of Materials Science and Engineering as they welcome Harold Park from Boston University to the fall Distinguished Seminar Series. He will discuss "The Role of Surface Diffusion on the Mechanical Properties of Metal Nanowires."

Abstract: Understanding the time-dependent deformation and failure mechanisms of metallic nanostructures such as nanowires is essential for characterizing their reliability, durability and life-cycle performance in device applications. An intriguing idea that has been proposed, but never validated, is that the strong temperature-dependence of the nucleation strength implies that pre-existing defects other than dislocations, such as surface self-diffusion of point defects, could serve as a precursor to the surface dislocation nucleation event itself. As such, a fundamental scientific question regarding the contributing factors to incipient dislocation nucleation, and thus the factors controlling or limiting the mechanical strength of metal nanostructures, remains unanswered: What is the role of surface diffusion in acting either as a precursor, or as a concurrent enabler of surface dislocation nucleation, and what is the atomistic mechanism by which surface diffusion contributes to the nucleation process, and thus controls the mechanical strength?

Bio: Harold Park is a professor of mechanical engineering at Boston University. He received his mechanical engineering degrees from Northwestern University and was a postdoctoral researcher at Sandia Labs from 2004 to 2005.

All UCF faculty and graduate students are welcome to attend.