NQPI Member Will Speak at APS Regional Convention

Eric Stinaff with physics students, Ramana Thota (on left) and Thushan Wickramasinghe (on right).

By Samantha Peko
NQPI editorial intern —

Ohio University Physics & Astronomy Professor and Nanoscale Quantum Phenomenon Institute Director (NQPI) Eric Stinaff will present a plenary talk at the 2016 fall meeting of the Ohio-region section of the American Physical Society.

With more than 53,000 members, APS is the world’s second largest professional organization of physicists, founded in 1899 by 36 physicists who gathered at Columbia University to advance the knowledge of physics. Today, among its many activities, the organization publishes many well-known academic journals, such as Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and provides outreach programs and fellowship grants to support scientific advances. The organization also advocates for physics and does other numerous public activities.

OSAPS, the Ohio chapter, is one of 10 regional groups. OSAPS convenes in the spring and fall. More than 100 people attended the 2015 meeting at Cleveland State University. This year’s meeting focuses on renewable energy sources.

Stinaff, an expert in optical measurements, was chosen to be a plenary speaker at the event because of his recent work with transition metal dichalcogenides.

Certain transition metal dichalcogenides form two-dimensional materials with semiconducting properties. The materials and devices were produced by Stinaff’s group using a chemical vapor deposition process and their properties were studied with optical techniques. This research will be useful for the creation of the next generation of electronic devices including optical detectors and gas or molecular sensors.

Diagram of dichalcogenide. Photo credit: Physical Review B (2015).

“I feel honored to be invited by the organizers and I’m looking forward to an exciting and interesting conference,” Stinaff said.

The event takes place on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7-8, at Bowling Green State University. Stinaff is one of five plenary speakers, other speakers include professors from The Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve University, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago.