FWP executive summaries: basic energy sciences materials sciences and engineering program (SNL/NM).

Abstract

This report presents an Executive Summary of the various elements of the Materials Sciences and Engineering Program which is funded by the Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico. A general programmatic overview is also presented. II. General Programmatic Overview and Institutional Issues A. GoalsThe goals of the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Materials Sciences and Engineering (MS&E) Program at Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM) are to:• Conduct forefront, interdisciplinary research that supports DOE's Office of Science and BES missions.• Establish the "state-of-the-art" in selected areas of materials sciences and engineering.• Create a research environment that stimulates innovation and attracts and retains outstanding scientists.• Increase ties to universities, industries and other National Laboratories.• Take advantage of a wide range of large, capital-intensive facilities.The major objective of this program is to combine Sandia's experimental and theoretical expertise and capabilities in the areas of solid state sciences, nanoscience, advanced atomiclevel diagnostics, and materials synthesis and processing science to understand physical and chemical phenomena in materials and to produce new classes of tailored materials as well as to enhance the properties of existing materials.Our interdisciplinary program utilizes a broad array of sophisticated, state-of-the-art experimental and computational capabilities provided by other programs as well as this program. The major leveraged capabilities include: teraflop computers, various molecular beam epitaxy and chemical vapor deposition facilities, a broad range of materials synthesis and processing facilities, clean rooms for microfabrication and nanostructuring of materials, ion-beam accelerators, laser-based diagnostics, advanced optical and surface spectroscopies, low-temperature laboratory with 3 He -4 He dilution refrigerator, unique combined highpressure/low-temperature facilities, and electron, scanning tunneling, atom tracking and atomic force microscopies. B. Major Program Restructuring Focuses on Emerging ThemesDuring the past year we undertook a major restructuring of the program. The old structure consisted of about 20 individual projects many of which were small and funded at less (in some cases much less) than $400K/year. The primary objective of the restructuring was to evolve new major scientific themes that will establish the future directions and emphasis of the program. This restructuring resulted in consolidating the program into six new projects with the following themes: A major side benefit of this restructuring is the reduction in the administrative burden associated with the management and required documentation for each project.A brief statement of the main goals of each new project follows: • Quantum Electronic Phenomena and StructuresThe ultimate goal of this project is to understand how structuring on the ...