This project represents a vigorous and innovative undergraduate research program that serves as a national model of excellence. This project involves 40 students studying a mix of applied and basic science projects in glass science over the next five years. Students will undertake research focused on discovering new glass forming systems and ranges of compositions; characterizing physical properties; building patented rapid cooling devices; learning to make micron-scale gratings and optical devices; forming microspheres; working on nuclear waste incorporation into glasses; and doing atomic structure studies of these new materials. The broader impacts of this proposed work are manifold. They include: 1) teaching large numbers of undergraduates how to do sustained research. Seventy percent of their students continue onwards to graduate school in science or engineering. The group is fully inclusive and participation is welcomed by all. 2) serving the glass science and physics community. In this area the faculty have assumed leadership roles (examples: Prof. Affatigato is the immediate past chair of the Glass and Optical Materials Division of the American Ceramic Society, and Prof. Feller was co- president of American Institute of Physics?s Society of Physics Students) and numerous conferences in glass science and physics were organized. Also, two segments of on-line courses (co-organized by Clemson University and the NSF-International Materials Institute at Lehigh University and Penn State University) were taught in glass science (spectroscopy and properties). 3) bringing science to the public by visiting schools; hosting student groups at Coe College; giving public lectures and demonstrations on topics such as glass-making. The signature outreach program is the Coe Playground of Science that brings 1500-2000 community members, mainly young students, for an evening of science demonstrations.
TECHNICAL DETAILS: This project involves a vigorous undergraduate research program that will educate 40 undergraduate students over the next five years. Much of the work will be done in-house at Coe College using very well equipped laboratories. The equipment base includes: scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Raman and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopies, laser-desorption time-of-flight mass spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, much thermal equipment, chemical determination by x-ray analysis (EDXRF), and an excellent glass-making facility. The research conducted has both both basic and applied aspects, and it seeks to make substantial contributions to the field of glass science. The basic science work is focused on discovering new glass forming systems; extending glass-forming ranges; conducting atomic structure studies of these new glasses using a wealth of spectroscopic techniques available both at Coe College and around the world; and characterizing physical properties. The more applied work includes designing and building patentable state-of-the art rapid cooling devices; learning to make micron-scale gratings and microspheres using laser crystallization and flame spheroidization; and working on nuclear waste incorporation into borosilicate host glasses. A significant amount of this research is done with collaborators around the world, in particular, in North and South America, and in Europe. This expands the repertoire of techniques available to these students and facilitates the discovery of new information. These collaborations also bring new ideas and students to Coe College, enriching the educational experience for all. The impacts of the work are considerable. The science and technology created at Coe College is used by groups throughout the world and the methods of instruction serve as a model for the nation. The educational approach is innovative and undergraduate students learn to do research over extended periods (multiple years) and they participate fully in all aspects of the work. To date they have co-authored over 100 papers and have given hundreds of presentations.
Our broader impacts have affected many. We have trained over 40 undergraduate students in doing research. This has enabled over 75% of them to continue on to graduate school. We continue to publish strongly with undergraduates in some of the leading journals in the field. Also, with this research work we have built the Coe College Physics Department to include over 50 undergraduates. This is fully 4% of the college's students, a rare achievement. We believe we are a national model of introducing students to substantial research in this way. Also, we have worked with high schoolers in research and we have done much outreach to the general public. Coe also serves as an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates site for students from research-poor schools. It has a focus on first-generation college students. The glass research project At Coe College has proven to be a perfect fit for REU students. We have had a number of important contributions to intellectual merit. We have discovered new glass forming materials in several ways. This includes the first report of glassy tellurium oxide and antimony oxide. We used rapid cooling as well as laser levitation on streams of inert gas to accomplish this. We also have studied how vanadate glasses become crystals upon laser irradiation. This allows us to literaly write on these glasses with lasers. We made important inroads in understanding how ternary (three component) vanadate based glasses work. We connected, using mathematical models, the properties and atomic structure of these glasses. These are interesting materials in that they are glasses that actually conduct electricity. We have made progress on one of glass science's largest puzzles: What is the nature of structure at the level of perhaps 5-15 atoms? Glasses on an everday scale exhibit no sustained order. However, it has been long known that glasses at the level of the shortest range order of just a few atoms exhibit remarkable order such as in the formation of triangles and pyramids of atoms. More and more glass scientists, including our students and faculty, are trying to understand glass at the next level of order. This may include how clusters of the short-range structures connect in glass. Indeed, the National Science Foundation views this as a grand challnge of the field. For example at this level of order we may better understand how glasses are able to conduct electricity through the movement of charged atoms known as ions. This may lead directly to new and improved ionic conducting batteries. It may also help in the design of new tougher glasses. We are doing a number of experiemnts on this including magnetic resonance, neutron and X-ray scattering, and laser induced mass spectroscopy. We are studying how glasses are affected by thermal events. This includes measurements of temperatures at which glasses soften. This is an important practical property. Recently, we discovered an unusually large temperature range over which low softening point glasses go through the transition from being rigid to taffy-like. This has the potential to make annealing (or removing stresses) of glasses easier to accomplish.
