****Technical Abstract**** This award explores the dynamics of nanomaterials, employing atomic-scale spatial resolution, femtosecond temporal resolution techniques to explore the mechanisms underlying how nanoscale materials transform in the single nanocrystal limit. Snapshots of nanoscale phase transitions will be captured in order to understand the rules that govern nanomaterial transformations, the energy barriers that separate metastable phases of matter, and the atomic-scale pathways that connect them. In order to achieve this, this project brings together techniques never before combined, involving optical tweezers, short pulse x-ray scattering and spectroscopy, and nonlinear-optical techniques. This award is coupled to an educational outreach program involving a local high school student who will take part in this research, with the goal of encouraging the student to continue on in science and technology fields in college. This award will also support the education of a PhD student in this area.
This project investigates how nanosized systems transform, using the equivalent of stop-action photography to visualize the atomic-scale pathways that nanoscale materials follow in real time. Novel experimental techniques are combined together to capture the first steps in processes fundamental to the efficiency and speed of technologically relevant devices. The output of this program will be a basic understanding of single nanocrystal phase changes and the development of new techniques for engineering and controlling the properties of materials at the nanoscale. An integrated outreach program is also part of this award, involving a student from an economically-disadvantaged local high school who will take part in this research, with the goal of encouraging the student to continue in science and technology fields in the future. This award will also support the education of a PhD student in this area with broad connections to advanced technologies and novel synthesis techniques.
