Past Event: Babuška Forum

Quantum Materials Engineering

Feliciano Giustino, Professor, Department of Physics, Oden Institute, UT Austin

Abstract

The last three decades witnessed unprecedented progress in the computational modelling, design, and discovery of new materials starting from the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. Much of this progress has been enabled by the successful combination of density-functional theory with high-performance computing. In this talk I will discuss the basic concepts of this approach and its application to the optimization and design of functional materials for electronics, photonics, and energy. I will illustrate some recent highlights from our group in the area of quantum materials engineering, namely by discussing how we created new materials for high-performance solar panels starting from quantum mechanics, and how we hope to improve the infrastructure for 5G wireless technology by modifying existing components at the atomic scale. Bio Feliciano Giustino is Professor of Physics, and holds the W. A. "Tex" Moncrief, Jr. Chair in Quantum Materials Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, and held a post-doctoral appointment at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the University of Texas he was a Professor of Materials Science at the University of Oxford, and the Mary Shepard B. Upson Visiting Professor in Engineering at Cornell University. He is the recipient of a Leverhulme Research Leadership Award. He specializes in electronic structure theory, high-performance computing, and the atomic-scale design of advanced materials using quantum mechanics. He is author of over 130 scientific publications and one book on density-functional theory by Oxford University Press. He initiated the open-source software project EPW, which is regularly used by many research groups worldwide. He is primarily known for the development of new theoretical and computational methods for electronic structure calculations. His work on materials design led to the discovery of several new semiconductors for applications in energy and optoelectronics.