9321727 Merz U.S.-Japan Collaborative Project in Quantum Transitions in Nanostructures This is a cooperative project between the NSF Center for Quantized Electronic Structures (QUEST), University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Tokyo. The Japanese portion of the project is supported by the Research Development Corporation of Japan (JRDC). The principal investigators are James L. Merz, Center Director, and Professor Hiroyuki Sakaki, University of Tokyo. Through an exchange of personnel, specifically postdoctoral fellows and senior investigators, the two groups will carry out research in four different but related experimental areas, with an effort in fundamental theory of quantum transitions overlaying these four areas: (1) optical and far infrared transitions in quantum wells, quantum wires, and other nanostructures, and their infrared and photo-conductive responses; (2) relaxation and scattering processes involving electrons and/or holes, both within the quantum states and between them; (3) periodic alloys and their fluctuations of alloy composition in quantum wells, including their effect on optical and electronic transitions; and (4) advanced growth and processing technology and material science for novel nanostructure formation, with emphasis on the in-situ study of grown structures and surfaces to expand the controllability of the perfection of nanostructures. It is expected that the project will generate considerable new and important information concerning both the growth process and the nature of the surfaces that result from this growth process. ***
