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Library > Fact Sheets > AFOSR: Quantum Electronic Solids
AFOSR: QUANTUM ELECTRONIC SOLIDS
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
Physics and Electronics Directorate
Quantum Electronic Solids
Dr. Harold Weinstock, Program Manager
This program focuses on materials that exhibit cooperative quantum electronic
behavior. The primary emphasis is on superconductors, negative-index metamaterials, and on nanoscopic electronic devices with low power dissipation and the ability to provide denser non-volatile memory, logic and/or sensing elements that have the potential to impact future Air Force electronic systems.
While the superconductivity portion of this program has long been rooted in improving the current-carrying ability and microwave properties of the cuprate (so-called high-temperature or HTS) superconductors, and more specifically YBCO, the focus starting in FY09 will on a search for new classes of superconducting materials that either have higher transition temperatures or have isotropic superconducting properties at temperatures in the range of the transition temperatures of the cuprates. It is anticipated that this major change in emphasis will be part of a coordinated international activity that is multidisciplinary in nature, and proposals that address both the physics and chemistry of potential new types of superconductors are welcome, as are multinational research efforts. While there is a long history of theorists being unsuccessful in predicting the discovery of new superconductors, there are now tools available, namely supercomputers, that have enhanced the ability to study model systems. While the emphasis of this program is on experimental research, theorists that collaborate with experimental groups are welcome to participate.
The metamaterials portion of this program is devoted to the production of 3-D metamaterials that operate over a wide swath of the electromagnetic spectrum, from microwaves, to IR and the visible. The goal is to produce materials that improve the efficiency and selectivity of and reduce the size of communications system components such as antennas, filters and lenses. Another interesting aspect is to study the ability to create sub-wavelength near-field (and possibly far-field) imaging. Additionally, these desired properties could lead to denser information storage and retrieval.
A growing aspect of this program is the inclusion of nanoscopic techniques to fabricate, characterize, and manipulate atomic-, molecular-, and nanometer-scale structures (including carbon and other elemental nanotubes), with the aim of producing a new generation of improved communications components, sensors and non-volatile, ultra-dense memory, resulting in the ultimate miniaturization of analog and digital circuitry. This program element includes the use of polarized electrons to produce nuclear magnetic polarization as a basis for dense, non-volatile memory, with possible application to quantum computing at room temperature.
Finally, there is a continuing (albeit small, monetary) interest in the development of new (soft and hard) magnetic material with high energy product at elevated temperatures to aid in providing power devices, switches and bearings for a new generation of more-electric aircraft that dispense with hydraulics and which rely, heavily on magnetic actuation.
Contact:
Dr. Harold Weinstock
AFOSR/NE
Tele: (703) 696-8572
DSN: 426-8572
FAX: (703) 696-8481
Email: harold.weinstock@afosr.af.mil
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