The Advanced Materials and Surface Science Group consists of 6 principal investigators and 4 adjunct research fellows. The goals of this research group are to (1) incept new ways of fabricating, characterizing and utilizing materials with novel properties, and (2) achieve a thorough understanding of the microscopic mechanisms underlying these novel properties. In expectation of generating some bright sparks, there has been frequent interaction among group members.

Yuh-Lin Wang discovers surface magic clusters with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and finds applications for 2D arrays of monodispersed novel nanostructures created by ion/electron beam lithography. Ker-Jar Song investigates self-organized structures such as adsorbate-induced faceting, faceting/defaceting phase transitions, 2D domain patterns, etc. with various surface science techniques. Jiing-Chyuan Lin studies molecular dynamics as well as UV-stimulated cis-trans isomerization of single adsorbates on semiconductor and metal surfaces utilizing Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and STM. Ching-Ming Wei conducts ab initio calculations to explore the quantum size effects in a variety of low dimension systems such as metal thin films, nanowires, and metal clusters.

The research focus of Kuei-Hsien Chen is on the growth and characterization of carbon- and nitrogen-based materials such as diamond, SiCN and GaN, 1D materials such as CNTs, GaN, InN, and ZnO nanostructures, as well as advanced materials for energy-related applications. Shang-Bin Liu develops and applies NMR spectroscopic techniques to porous materials, solid acid catalysts and biological systems, and also fabricates novel porous aluminosilicate and carbon materials for advanced applications in catalysis, guest-host chemistry, and energy-related systems. The research interests of Wei-Hua Wang focus on spin-dependent phenomena in nano-structures. He explores spin-polarized injection and transport properties in novel materials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes. By employing material synthesis and fabrication technologies, nano-devices can be fabricated and tailored for transport and optical measurements. The goal of the research is to search for new functionality and possibility to manipulate electron spins in nano-structures.

The research activities of four adjunct members in this group include physics of colossal magnetoresistive transition metal oxides and electronic instability driven nanoscale structural phase transitions (Cheng-Hsuan Chen), development of optical techniques such as ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy and spectrally resolved two-beam coupling spectroscopy to probe surface adsorbates and light-matter interaction in the nanometer scale (Juen-Kai Wang), synthesis of nanomaterials such as quantum dots, nanowires and applications of these nanomaterials in bio-labeling, diagnostics and assays (Chia-Chun Chen), and characterization of ultrathin and multilayers of magnetic systems using a wide range of surface science techniques (Minn-Tsong Lin).