Universidade Federal do Piauí

Evento: Seminário Internacional do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Física da UFPI

Local: Auditório do Departamento de Física

Data: 16/01/2013

O Programa de Pós-Graduação em Física da UFPI realizará um seminário sobre "Física de Nanoestruturas de Carbono" em rodada dupla, ministrado Pelo Professor Dr. Vincent Meunier, do Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy do Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy-NY-EUA). O seminário ocorre nos dias 16 e 17 de Janeiro de 2013, sempre às 16:00 hs no Auditório do Departamento de Física. Seguem os resumos das palestras das duas partes:

Part 1: Graphene: a journey in flat wonderland

Graphene is a two dimensional material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice. It is the thinnest material known to mankind. It is also one of the mechanically strongest. It displays many intriguing properties stemming from its size and scale: it conducts electricity as efficiently as copper and outperforms all other materials as a conductor of heat. Graphene was long thought to be unstable, unless it was stacked with many layers, thereby forming a three-dimensional material known as graphite. In this lecture, I will review major advances and key findings made since the award-winning discovery of Geim and Novoselov (Physics Novel Prize 2010) in 2004. I will discuss experimental findings as well as promises for a graphene-based nanotechnology future.

Part 2: Defects in Carbon: The Lure of the Rings

The paradox of perfection – that flaws make things perfect – could be the key to designing nanoelectronic circuits from carbon nano structures. The carbon atoms within a nanotube or graphene are normally arranged in a hexagonal lattice similar to chicken wire. However, the introduction of a few pentagons and heptagons to the otherwise regular structure can lead to a large number of surprising modifications of the physical properties of the system. Here, I will show the relationship between the presence of non-hexagonal rings, the topology of the surface of the materials, and the resulting physical properties. I will present an elementary introduction of differential surface geometry,  the topology of the surface, and the presence of defective rings. A number of examples of recent literature will be used to illustrate the importance of defects in the development of a carbon-based nanoelectronics.