Scientists say Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is the only body in our solar system besides Earth with liquid on its surface. However, chemical elements behave very differently there in the extremely cold and dense atmosphere, with a temperature of minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit. For example, water, or H2O, forms Titan’s bedrock while methane acts… Read more
Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science
NAU physicists, materials scientists join ASU in $4 million Nanotechnology Collaborative Infrastructure Southwest
Researchers in Northern Arizona University’s Center for Materials Interfaces in Research and Applications (¡MIRA!) and the Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science (APMS) will collaborate in a regional partnership with ASU to solve challenging convergent research problems through nanotechnology-based innovations
Funded through a National Science Foundation grant of more than $4 million, researchers at Northern… Read more
NAU scientists partner in $26 million NSF initiative to establish new Center for Quantum Networks
Northern Arizona University is a partner institution in a major new initiative to establish and lead the Center for Quantum Networks, or CQN. NAU will collaborate with The University of Arizona, the lead institution on this five-year project. The new center is funded through an initial $26 million grant awarded to UA by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and includes an additional five-year $24.6 million renewal option. The project, which… Read more
Scientists collaborate across NAU’s research centers to create new physics-based technology for COVID-19 detection
One of the most challenging aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the lack of testing needed to detect and trace infections—and without adequate testing, government officials do not have the data they need to make the best possible decisions in the interest of public health.
In addition to being in short supply, most… Read more
¡MIRA!: NAU establishes new interdisciplinary, inclusive center as transformative model for high-impact materials research and workforce development
One of the biggest and most complex challenges facing Arizona’s institutions of higher education is the need to produce a more interdisciplinary workforce for STEM fields that is inclusive and representative of the state’s diverse populations. A new multicultural research center at Northern Arizona University built on the field of materials science promises… Read more
NAU physicist awarded prestigious $502,000 NSF grant to harness active matter for nanoscale applications
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… Read more