Principal Investigator Michael J Demkowicz
Project Website http://demkowicz.mit.edu/Home.html
In the Demkowicz group, we study the fundamental processes by which solids change their atomic structure when driven far from equilibrium, e.g. when plastically deformed, bombardment by energetic ions, shocked, or exposed to rapidly varying temperatures and pressures. Elucidation of the atomic scale mechanisms in turn helps us to develop strategies for engineering materials from the atomic scale up.
Recent work has focused upon the response of metallic nanocomposites to intense irradiation. Traditional structural materials degrade and fail under these conditions, but certain nanocomposites contain high volume fractions of “super sink” interfaces that allow them to self-heal. By understanding how radiation damage is trapped and removed at such interfaces, we aim to design of a new class of radiation-tolerant materials that would make future nuclear reactors maximally safe, sustainable, and efficient.
Another avenue of research currently being pursued is elucidation of the mechanical and transport properties of metallic glasses. This class of materials differs fundamentally from crystalline solids in that it possesses no long-range lattice periodicity. The behavior of glasses therefore not only poses a challenge to our current understanding of materials, but also offers opportunities for creating new materials that circumvent the drawbacks of traditional ones at the atomic level.