Properties of materials (electronic, optical, mechanical) are determined on the atomic level. In collaboration with experimentalists we apply atomic level modeling of structure--property relations of various materials and processes in them.
Projects:
PlaCeEra: Ceramics are important materials for many reasons: They stand high temperatures, they are chemically inert in many cases and have high hardness. However, they usually break by brittle fracture which makes them difficult to process. Bringing plasticity to ceramics would revolutionaze materials science of ceramics. We have observed in plastic deformation in nanostructured ceramics. The question is: How to take this to macroscopic levels? Here we need information of the deformation mechanisms of these materials on atomic level and find the structural features (e.g. coordination, nanoscale porosity) that affect the plasticity.
Nanoindentation (EU project M4F): Effects of irradiation defects on the mechanical properties of steels are studied using atomic level simulations of nanoindentation.
Nanoacoustics: Atomic level modeling of (1) phononic nanojet, coherent phonons, (2) material removal by hyper and ultrasound (cavitation, acoustic streaming).
Senior personnel involved in this research line:
University lecturer Antti Kuronen