Physics (Internal)

Office Hours: tba

 

Research Interests:

Real-Time X-ray Studies of Materials Processes

Our research investigates how materials evolve on atomic and nano- length scales during growth, patterning or electrochemical function using real-time x-ray techniques. Many of the experiments use the high brightness of synchrotron x-ray sources – the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS-II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island and the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago.   Where possible, our research makes contact with fundamental theory and simulation. In the last few years, our detailed interest has been in understanding surface and thin film processes, in investigating interfacial energy-related electrochemical processes, and in studying the structure of molten salts of interest for energy applications.

Selected Publications:

“Coherent X-rays Measurement of Step-Flow Propagation During Growth on Polycrystalline Thin Film Surfaces”, R.L. Headrick, J.G. Ulbrandt, P. Myint, J. Wan, Y. Li, A. Fluerasu, Y. Zhang, L. Wiegert and K.F. Ludwig, Jr., Nature Communications 10, 2638 (2019).

“Nanoscale Kinetics and Dynamics During Ar+ Patterning of SiO2”, M. Mokhtarzadeh, J.G. Ulbrandt, P. Myint, S. Narayanin, R.L. Headrick and K.F. Ludwig, Jr., Phys. Rev. B 99, 165429 (2019).

. “Influence of Temperature on Atomic Layer Epitaxial Growth of Indium Nitride Assessed with In Situ Grazing Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering”, J.M. Woodward, S.G. Rosenberg, A.C. Kozen, N. Nepal, S.D. Johnson, C. Wagenbach, A.H. Rowley, Z.R. Robinson, H. Joress, K.F. Ludwig, Jr. and C.R. Eddy, Jr., J. of Vac. Sci. Technol. A 37, 030901 (2019). Chosen as an Editor’s Pick.

“Surface Segregation in Lanthanum Strontium Manganite Thin Films and its Potential Effect on the Oxygen Reduction Reaction”, J.N. Davis, K.F. Ludwig, K.E. Smith, J.C. Woicik, S. Gopalan, U.B. Pal and S.N. Basu, J. Electrochem. Soc. 164, F3091 (2017).

“Distinguishing Physical Mechanisms Using GISAXS Experiments and Linear Theory: The Importance of High Wavenumbers”, S. Norris, J. Perkinson, M. Mokhtarzadeh, E. Anzenberg, M. Aziz and K. Ludwig, Scientific Reports 7, 2016 (2017).

“Effect of Sr Content and Strain on Sr Surface Segregation of La1-xSrxCo0.2Fe0.8O3-δ as Cathode Material for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Y. Yu, K.F. Ludwig, J.C. Woicik, S. Gopalan, U. Pal, T.C. Kaspar and S.N. Basu, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 8, 26704 (2016).

“Using Coherent X-rays to Directly Measure the Propagation Velocity of Defects During Thin Film Deposition”, Jeffrey G. Ulbrandt, Meliha G. Rainville, Christa Hoskin, Suresh Narayanan, Alec R. Sandy, Hua Zhou, Karl F. Ludwig, Jr. and Randall L. Headrick, Nature Physics 12, 794 (2016).

“Co-GISAXS as a New Technique to Investigate Surface Growth Dynamics”, M.G. Rainville, C. Hoskin, J.G. Ulbrandt, S. Narayanan, A.R. Sandy, H. Zhou, R.L. Headrick and K.F. Ludwig, Jr., Phys. Rev. B 92, 214102 (2015).

“Model-Independent Test of the Crater Function Theory of Surface Morphology Evolution during Ion Bombardment”, E. Anzenberg, J. Perkinson, M. Aziz and K. Ludwig, Phys. Rev B 89, 115433 (2014).

“Nanoscale Surface Pattern Formation Kinetics on Germanium Irradiated by Kr+ Ions”, E. Anzenberg, J.C. Perkinson, C.S. Madi, M.J. Aziz and K.F. Ludwig, Jr., Phys. Rev. B 86, 245412 (2012)

“High Contrast X-ray Speckle from Atomic-Scale Order in Liquids and Glasses”, S. Hruszkewycz, M. Sutton, P. Fuoss, B. Adams, S. Rosenkranz, K.F.Ludwig, W. Roseker, D. Fritz, M. Cammarata, D. Zhu, S. Lee, H. Lemke, C. Gutt, A. Robert, G. Gruebel and G.B. Stephenson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 185502 (2012).

Education:

• Ph.D. in Applied Physics: Stanford University - 1986
• M.S. in Applied Physics: Stanford University - 1982
• B.A. magna cum laude in Physics "With Distinction in All Subjects": Cornell University - 1980

Research Descriptions:

Real-Time X-Ray Studies of Materials Processes

Our research investigates how materials evolve on atomic and nano- length scales during growth, patterning or electrochemical function using real-time x-ray techniques. Many of the experiments use the high brightness of synchrotron x-ray sources – the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS-II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island and the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago.  Where possible, our research makes contact with fundamental theory and simulation.

In the last few years, our detailed interest has been in understanding surface and thin film processes. Many of our in-situ studies utilize a unique ultra-high vacuum growth and surface modification facility that we have helped develop at the NSLS-II. We have been using it to examine surface morphology evolution during ion bombardment (which can cause the spontaneous growth of surface nanostructures) and issues related to the growth of wide-bandgap group III-V semiconductor films using atomic layer epitaxy (in collaboration with the Eddy group at the Naval Research Laboratory).

Increasingly our experiments utilize coherent x-ray scattering, which provides the ability to probe nanoscale dynamics during growth and patterening. Partially coherent x-ray beams are created using small (few microns) slits in conjunction with a high-brilliance 3rd generation synchrotron source. The disorder on the surface produces speckle patterns in the scattered x-ray intensity. The evolution of the speckle pattern can then be related to the underlying dynamics of structural changes.