We currently use laser ablation to fabricate high-Tc superconductors Y-, T1-, and Hg-based as well as dielectric thin films. A high-intensity laser beam is directed onto a bulk target (superconductor or dielectric) causing an ablative spray of target material which then deposits onto a substrate (single crystal or amorphous). The advantage of the technique (which is simple to switch from one target to another within a single chamber) is that the target stoichiometry is replicated in the deposited films. In addition to the search for new materials, we will carry out research, characterization, and development of new superconducting thin films for use in high density electronics. In particular, using the laser ablation technique we plan to fabricate single (HTSC)- and multi (HTSC- dielectric-HTSC)- layer samples. The dielectric could be MgO, LaAIO3, CeO2, SiO2 and SAT, a new material developed by Penn State. Physical properties of the fabricated films will be studied extensively.

The three-dimensional (3d) hydrogen atom played a central role in the early formulation and development of quantum mechanics and is now part of the standard curriculum in modern undergraduate physics.

If the motion of the electron around the nucleus is constrained in a plane by certain boundary conditions, then such a system is called the two-dimensional hydrogen atom. The motion of electrons confined to two dimensions has been of great interest in recent years, in part because of applications to such systems as high-Tc super-con-ductors. Recently, we have carried out a thorough study of the two-dimensional hydrogen atom (Phys. Rev. A, 1186 - 1197 (1991)). In particular, we derived the exact analytic solution for the eigen energy and wave function, both with and without the Chern-Simons field. We plan to study the effect of the Chern-Simons term on the transition rates, dc Stark effect, Lamb shift, and Zeeman effect.