Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science
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The future of quantum, nano, and multi-scaled science and engineering

The Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science at Northern Arizona University offers multiple degree paths including a bachelor’s degree in Physics, a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Astronomy (merged major), a master’s degree in Applied Physics, and a doctoral degree in Applied Physics and Materials Science.

Applied Physics and Materials Science are rapidly developing transdisciplinary fields primarily focused on the application of physical phenomena to technology design and discovery of advanced functional materials. This intrinsic link between applied physics and materials science have made Applied Physics and Materials Science foundational disciplines for next generation technologies in nano-, meso- and quantum science.

The sense of community I felt while at NAU is something I very much miss.

– recent graduate who is now a PhD candidate

 

Preparing for jobs of the technological future.
Join us: we’re looking for a few good students!

By the numbers

54

Physics Majors

109

Physics/Astronomy Merged Majors

56

Undergraduate Researchers

19

Graduate Students

News

For a complete listing of all news articles, please visit our news page.

NAU physicist awarded prestigious $502,000 NSF grant to harness active matter for nanoscale applications

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NAU physicist awarded prestigious $502,000 NSF grant to harness active matter for nanoscale applications March 12, 2019 by NAU News Leave a Comment In the field of physics, everything that has mass and takes up space is matter. Active matter consists of many self-propelled entities uniting to create large-scale structures and movements, such as a group of molecules interacting to enable muscle contraction, or a flock of birds synchronizing in flight to form complex patterns. Active matter has become a…

Discovered: The Most-Distant Solar System Object Ever Observed

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Washington, DC— A team of astronomers has discovered the most-distant body ever observed in our Solar System.  It is the first known Solar System object that has been detected at a distance that is more than 100 times farther than Earth is from the Sun. The new object was announced on Monday, December 17, 2018, by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center and has been given the provisional designation 2018 VG18. The discovery was made by Carnegie’s Scott S.…

Think twice before moving to Mars—NAU planetary scientist refutes terraforming in NASA study

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Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center By Kerry Bennett Office of the Vice President for Research Colonizing Mars as a backup planet for Earth has been a theme in both science fiction and popular science for decades, and NASA plans to send human explorers to the Red Planet within the next 20 years. But how feasible is it for humans to explore or colonize Mars? With an average daily temperature at minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit, the inhospitable…

NASA telescope’s ‘non-detection’ of first interstellar object in solar system leads NAU team to conclusions about mystery object’s size, reflectivity

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Nov. 14, 2018 In November 2017, a team of scientists pointed NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope toward a comet-like object known as ’Oumuamua—the first interstellar body ever found in our solar system—but the object proved too faint for the infrared telescope to detect. Though initially disappointing, this non-detection of ’Oumuamua eventually provided new information about the cosmic interloper, according to a new study published in the The Astronomical Journal by Northern Arizona University professor of physics and astronomy David Trilling, postdoctoral…
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Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science
Location
Room A101 Building 11
Ashurst Hall
624 S. Knoles Dr.
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011
Mailing Address
PO Box 6053
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011