The renewal funding will allow the Center for the Science and Engineering of Materials (CSEM), directed by Harry Atwater, Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, to continue its work in exotic and futuristic materials applications, such as macromolecular materials, ferroelectric photonics, novel composites of glass and metals, spintronic devices, and fuel cells. Research on spintronic materials will be led by Caltech physics professor Nai-Chang Yeh. A promising new research avenue in the physics of composite materials, spintronics seeks to exploit the quantum spin characteristics of electrons to operate electronic devices, rather than the moving of current through wires.
