Joshua Tatham makes presentation at prestigious physics conference

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Joshua Tatham

LOCK HAVEN, PA (03/29/2012)(readMedia)-- Lock Haven University had a major presence when the world's leading physicists assembled in Boston, Massachusetts, February 27 - March 2, for the 2012 March meeting of the American Physical Society (APS).  One of the presenters was Joshua Tatham, a junior and Applied Physics major at Lock Haven University.

The APS March meeting is the largest physics meeting in the world. Each year since 2009, LHU nanotechnology students have been presenting their research at the APS conference. The record began in 2009 with a single LHU student presenter with Dr. Senevirathne. This year, there were 16 LHU student presenters. Dr. Marian Tzolov, associate professor of Physics, and Dr. Indrajith Senevirathne, assistant professor, directed the trip to Boston.

As his presentation at the APS 2012 March meeting, Mr. Tatham gave a poster presentation on his research titled "Micromechanical and structural study of ambient grown Au nanostructures on P doped Si(100)" which focuses on research on Au nanoparticles ambient self assembled on Si surface. He conducted his research in the nanotechnology program under Dr. Indrajith Senevirathne, assistant professor in the Geology and Physics Department.

Dr. Senevirathne explained, "Noble metal nanostructure on semiconductive and metallic surfaces are interesting due to their use in catalysis and hybrid systems and further considering the thermodynamics and kinetics of the self assembly."

Mr. Tatham presented his research at APS March meeting for the second time as he had presented his research in the APS 2011 March meeting in Dallas, Texas. A resident of Fleetwood, Pa., he is the son of Edward Tatham.

Attendance at the APS March meeting typically includes more than 12,000 of the top scientists in physics and chemistry research throughout the world. Attended Nobel laureates included William Phillips (1997 Nobel Prize in Physics) at NIST and Robert Laughlin (1998 Nobel Prize in Physics) at Stanford University.

The presentation by Joshua Tatham and his colleagues is based on experimental results which the students acquired using the state-of-the-art equipment at Lock Haven University guided by the experienced faculty in the Nanotechnology program.

Lock Haven University is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), the largest provider of higher education in the commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 405,000 system alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.