International Workshop on Ab initio Description of Iron and Steel: Mechanical Properties (ADIS2016)

The series of ADIS workshops is inspired by the impressive variety of competing mechanisms on the microscopic/atomic scale, which determine the performance of engineering materials such as steels. Accordingly, the main scope of the workshops is a thorough and detailed discussion of this behavior, in order to understand the underlying physics and to contribute to a further systematic improvement of the materials. We are convinced that a truly predictive approach to materials modeling needs to be based on a fundamental ab initio level, rooted in the laws of nature rather than empiricism. This is also the driving force for the collaborative research centre SFB761 Steel ab initio, which is devoted to a quantum-mechanically guided design in high- and medium-Mn steels and funding this workshop. We are grateful that the importance of this development is further recognized by the Psi-k Charity, which is financially supporting ADIS2016. Continue reading International Workshop on Ab initio Description of Iron and Steel: Mechanical Properties (ADIS2016)

scientific report on the Psi-k workshop “2D layered materials for opto-electronics: a theoretical/computational perspective”

 

   http://www.2dopt.eu/

                                       Rome, Italy, 18-19 December 2017

Organisers:

-Maurizia Palummo, Physics Department Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy

-Giacomo Giorgi, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (DICA) University of Perugia, Italy

-Jeffrey Grossman, Materials Science Department MIT, Boston, USA

Funding:  Psi-K

Introduction

Isolating graphene for the first time in 2004, with its plethora of possible device⎯oriented appealing features, has paved the way towards the study of several new classes of layered two-dimensional (2D) materials.    In several opto-electronic applications such as those involving the solar-to energy conversion process, it is indeed extremely appealing to control the properties of well-understood 3D materials by reducing their dimensionality towards the 2D limit or, even better, to directly focus on naturally layered materials both free⎯standing and also coupled with other layered ones in order to boost the sunlight conversion efficiency. Moreover, stacked Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures of 2D monolayers offer a unique playground to engineer the opto⎯electronic properties towards the realization of devices with different functionalities and with the availability of metallic, semiconducting, and insulating materials.  Due to their high surface to volume/ratio 2D⎯layered materials can harvest solar energy and generate electrons and holes, and they can also provide paths for the separation and diffusion of the photo-excited carriers. These are fundamental prerequisites for the realization of any photo⎯catalytic or photovoltaic cell.  The use of these emerging two-dimensional layered materials in technological applications presupposes a detailed knowledge of their chemical and physical properties. Theoretical methods and simulations play a fundamental role for the understanding and predicting these properties.  The goal of the workshop, collecting distinguished scientists in the field, has been to clarify the theoretical microscopic understanding of layered 2D Materials with a particular focus on applications in opto-electronics and solar⎯to⎯energy conversion.  An overview of the research at experimental level from experts in the field has also been given. Continue reading scientific report on the Psi-k workshop “2D layered materials for opto-electronics: a theoretical/computational perspective”