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Source:
Talat Rahman, 785-532-1611; e-mail: rahman@k-state.edu
http://www.mediarelations.ksu.edu/WEB/News/MediaGuide/trahmanbio.html
News release prepared by: Keener A. Tippin II, 785-532-6415
Friday,
December 23, 2005
K-STATE
PROFESSOR'S 'WALKING MOLECULE' RESEARCH NAMED ONE OF TOP 25 PHYSICS
STORIES OF 2005 BY AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS
MANHATTAN
-- It wasn't the biggest story of the year. But Kansas State University
distinguished professor of physics Talat Rahman's work on "walking
molecules" was big: So big that it has been named by the American
Institute of Physics as one of the Top 25 Physics stories for 2005.
Rahman
is a condensed matter theorist who investigates the physics of nano-materials
and solid surfaces and interfaces. This work is important for solving
technological issues such as thin film growth, new materials development,
tailoring of properties of nanomaterials, controlling characteristics
of catalysis and corrosion. It also is important for the fundamental
questions it raises about the nature of the bonding between atoms
at surfaces and interfaces and in other regions of low coordination
like those on nanocrystals.
In
her research, Rahman was able to male a single molecule "walk"
on two legs. Ludwig Bartels and his colleagues at the University
of California at Riverside, guided by Rahman and Sergey Stolbov,
a K-State assistant professor of physics, created a molecule --
called 9,10-dithioanthracene -- or DTA -- with two "feet"
configured in such a way that only one foot at a time can rest on
the substrate.
Activated
by heat or the nudge of a scanning tunneling microscope tip, DTA
will pull up one foot, put down the other, and thus walk in a straight
line across a flat surface. The planted foot not only supplies support
but also keeps the body of the molecule from veering or stumbling
off course.
In
tests on a standard copper surface, such as the kind used to manufacture
microchips, the molecule has taken 10,000 steps without faltering.
According to Bartels, possible uses of an atomic-sized walker include
guidance of molecular motion for molecule-based information storage
or even computation.
"I
find this work to be an excellent example of how theory, experiment
and computer simulations can go hand-in-hand in developing functional
materials for a variety of applications in nanotechnology such as
nanomaterials for drug delivery," Rahman said.
Rahman
is a pioneer in delineating the impact of atomic vibrations on the
characteristics of materials. She is recognized worldwide for her
contributions in the area of surface dynamics. One area of recent
focus is establishing the theoretical framework for multiscale modeling
of materials which allow an understanding of the macroscopic properties
of materials from information obtained at the microscopic level.
Her
efforts to model and visualize complex phenomena prompted her to
seek funding from the National Science Foundation to expand the
scientific and technical computing capability at K-State. The NSF
grant and matching funds from the university established K-State's
Center for Scientific Supercomputing, a facility that served the
need for faculty across campus for a number of years.
Rahman's
research programs have been continuously funded by national funding
sources throughout her tenure at K-State, beginning in 1983. Rahman's
work on the walking molecule is funded by a collaborative grant
of $1.5 million from the Department of Energy under its special
initiative "Catalysis Science Future."
Rahman
has been an invited scientist at many of the world's most important
research labs. Her awards include the UNDP Fellowship and the CNR-Italy
Research Fellowship and Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship and research
prize. Rahman is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. In 2002
she received the $10,000 Higuchi/Olin Petefish Award for research
achievement in the basic sciences from the University of Kansas.
She
also has received K-State's University Distinguished Graduate Faculty
Member Award and was named University Distinguished Professor in
2001.
She
has published hundreds of research articles, many of which have
been accepted by Physical Review Letters, one of the most prestigious
of the peer-reviewed publications in the physical sciences. Rahman
received K-State's William L. Stamey Teaching Award in 1992. A faculty
senator for several years, she is a former president of Faculty
Senate. She was instrumental in establishing the K-State Developing
Scholars' Program, which aims to enhance the retention and graduation
rates of students from historically under-privileged groups. For
the past several years Rahman has been funded by the National Science
Foundation to organize scientific activities at the international
summer college in Nathiagali, Pakistan, on "Frontiers in Physics
and Contemporary Needs of Developing Countries." Currently
Rahman is serving a three-year term on the executive committee of
the Division of Materials Physics, American Physical Society.
According
to Dean Zollman, head of the department of physics, Rahman's research
is "an excellent example of the collaboration of an outstanding
group of K-State faculty and students with researchers elsewhere."
"Dr.
Rahman and her colleagues at K-State provided the theoretical foundation
so that Dr. Bartels at University of California-Riverside could
create molecules that moved in a walking pattern," Zollman
said. "This type of collaboration enhances the reputation of
K-State and provides unique opportunities for our students."
The complete list of the Top 25 stories can be found on the institute's
Web site at: http://www.aip.org/pnu/2005/split/757-1.htm
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