Associate Professor of Applied and Engineering Physics, Director of Master's of Engineering (MEng) Program in Engineering Physics
274 Clark Hall, (607) 255-4065,
Ph.D. 1996 (Cornell)
David Muller is a graduate of the University of Sydney. He completed his Ph.D. in physics at Cornell University in 1996. David was a member of the technical staff at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies from 1997 to 2003, where he worked on developing atomic-scale spectroscopies for measuring the electronic structure of interfaces, and the limits that these structures place on ultra-thin gate oxides. In 2003, he joined the Applied and Engineering Physics faculty at Cornell University. His current interests are in the detection and imaging of individual dopant atoms and clusters in solids at atomic resolution, and how changes on the microscopic scale impact the macroscopic properties of materials.
Research Interests Statement
Our main research projects are listed below. At any given time we will also typically have some smaller specific projects. The primary thrust of our research is to explore how electronic structure changes on small length scales affects the macroscopic properties of materials. In particular: how interfaces affect transport properties (eg. in 5-atom thick gate oxides we have used atomic-scale electron energy loss spectroscopy to place fundamental physical limits on device scaling - Nature paper and comments ); the role of electronic structure in controlling the cohesion of interfaces (Phys. Rev. Lett.); and the first detection and real-space characterization of individual dopant atoms and clusters buried inside crystals (Nature, Nature Materials, comments and Opinion). In many cases, our tool of choice will be an atomic-resolution electron microscope, and we are always looking to develop new methods that advance the technique.
• Atomic-scale perovskite heterostructures: atom-by-atom design of materials that do not exist in nature, and stabilized as interface phases. Applications range from novel electronic states of matter to fuel-cell electrodes.
• Physical limits placed by interfacial electronic structure and atomic-scale chemistry on the scaling of integrated circuits.
•Development of high-resolution methods for the three-dimensional imaging and reconstruction of nanostructures ranging from integrated circuits to biomaterials.
• Nanostructured materials for energy applications.
• Development of new electron microscopy methods and instrumentation.
Current Research Projects
• Nanostructured Materials - Electron and Spin Transport
•Interfacial Chemistry and its effects on adhesion and electromigration of Copper Interconnects
•Dynamics of growth of complex materials
•Interface Engineering in Multifunctional Oxides
•Sub-wavelength mapping of optical modes in photonic structures using relativistic beams
Selected Publications (of more than 100, over 4000 citations)
• D. A. Muller, L. Fitting Kourkoutis, M. Murfitt, J. H. Song, H. Y. Hwang, J. Silcox, N. Dellby, O. L. Krivanek, “Atomic-Scale Chemical Imaging of Composition and Bonding by Aberration-Corrected Microscopy”, Science 319, 1073-1076 (2008).
• Z.Y. Liu, B.K. Brady, R.N. Carter, B. Litteer, M. Budinski, J.K. Hyun, D.A. Muller “Characterization of Carbon Corrosion-Induced Structural Damage of PEM Fuel Cell Cathode Electrodes Caused by Local Fuel Starvation”, J. Electrochem.Soc., 155 B979-B984 (2008).
• N. Reyren, S. Thiel, A.D. Caviglia, L. Fitting Kourkoutis, G. Hammerl, C. Richter, C.W. Schneider, T. Kopp, A.S. Rüetschi, D. Jaccard, M. Gabay, D.A. Muller, J.M. Triscone, J. Mannhart, “Superconducting Interfaces Between Insulating Oxides”, Science 317, 1196-1199 (2007)
• N. Nakagawa, H. Y. Hwang and D. A. Muller “Why Some Interfaces can never be Sharp”, Nature Materials, 5 204-209 (2006)
• D. A. Muller, N. Nakagawa, A. Ohtomo, J.L. Grazul, H.Y. Hwang, “Atomic-scale imaging of nanoengineered oxygen vacancy profiles in SrTiO3”, Nature 430, 657-661 (2004).
• A. Ohtomo, D. A. Muller, J. L Grazul, H. Y. Hwang, “Artificial Charge-Modulation in Atomic-scale Perovskite Titanate Superlattices”, Nature, 419 378-380 (2002)
• P. M. Voyles, D. A. Muller, J. L. Grazul, P. H. Citrin, H.-J. L. Gossmann, “Atomic-scale imaging of individual dopant atoms and clusters in highly n-type bulk Si”, Nature, 416 826-829 (2002).
• D. A. Muller, T. Sorsch, S. Moccio, F. H. Baumann and G. Timp, “The electronic structure at the atomic scale of ultra-thin gate oxides”, Nature, 399, 758-761 (1999).
