Materials Physics
Led by Prof. Dennison, the Materials Physics Group (MPG) at USU has over 30 years of experience studying how extreme environments affect material properties. They explore the properties of surfaces, interfaces, and adsorbed films, with strong ties to nanotechnology and materials science. They utilize unique test facilities to simulate extreme environments—low temperature, high vacuum, and extreme radiation—and to probe material behavior with unprecedented sensitivity.
Research Focus
The Space Environment Effects Materials (SEEM) test facility operated by the Utah State University Materials Physics Group (MPG) is a leading research center for the study of space environment effects on aerospace materials. The MPG performs state-of-the-art, ground-based testing of electrical charging and electron transport properties of both conducting and insulating materials, emphasizing studies of electron emission, conductivity, luminescence, and electrostatic discharge. Our efforts in this field from over more than two decades—in cooperation with NASA, AFOSR, and numerous aerospace companies—have been primarily motivated by the space community’s concern for charging of crafts caused by plasma environment fluxes and for radiation modification and damage of materials and components. We have studied how variations in temperature, accumulated charge, exposure time, contamination, surface modification, radiation dose rate, and cumulative dose affect these electrical properties (or related changes in structural, mechanical, thermal, and optical properties) of materials and systems. Our research also has direct application to high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power and transmission lines, semiconductor metal-oxide interfaces, and nanodielectrics.
The MPG’s SEEM test facilities and capabilities include:
- Electron Emission
- Conductivity & Charge Transport
- Cathodoluminescence
- Electrostatic Discharge & Arching
- Space Environment Simulation
- Extensive sample characterization & preparation capabilities
Facilities & Student Opportunities
Research is conducted in labs equipped with ultrahigh-vacuum surface-analysis chambers, molecular beam epitaxy, and chemical vapor deposition systems. Students gain hands-on experience in fabrication, measurement, and characterization techniques while contributing to cutting-edge research in surface physics and nanotechnology.