Mentor:  JR Dennison

  1. Experimental Solid State Physics

    The Materials Physics Group studies properties of materials and their interaction with electron, ion and photon beams.  A particular emphasis has been characterization of materials used in spacecraft construction and the prediction and mitigation of spacecraft charging due to interactions with the space plasma environment for projects funded through NASA and private companies.   Projects can involve instrumentation development and construction, computer automation, data acquisition, data modeling and analysis, and theoretical calculations.  Topics include:

    (1) Electron Transport in highly insulating materials: investigates the conductivity,  luminosity, polarizability, and electrostatic breakdown of highly insulating thin film polymer, ceramic and composite materials.  The focus is to understand the physics underlying the changes in electron transport that occurs over long time periods, and in response to variations in temperature, electron flux, charge accumulation and radiation damage.

    (2) Electron Emission studies: involves measurement and data analysis of the number, energy and angle of electrons emitted from materials as a result of incident electron, ion and photon beams.  A recent emphasis has been electron emission from charged and uncharged insulators.

    Skills: Experience in experimentation and techniques such as electronics, computer interfacing, vacuum physics, cryogenics, surface physics methods, data and error analysis, and scientific writing are useful, but can also be acquired or enhanced during the course of the project.  Skills in numerical methods and programming are useful for data analysis and transport simulations.


  1. Physics Education:  On occasion, students have pursued projects related to physics education with

  2. me.  Some have been related to the design, construction, and enhancement of upper division lab     experiments.  Other work has focused on education outreach and curriculum development for secondary students and educators.  These have included projects with USU Physics Day at Lagoon, the Get Away Special Team, and workshops for physics educators.