CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICISTS

ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES PHYSICIENS ET PHYSICIENNES

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2006 CAP/DCMMP Brockhouse Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Condensed Matter and Materials Physics is awarded to Dr. Hong Guo, McGill University, for his theoretical and computational studies of quantum transport, especially as applied to nanoscale and molecular devices.

Hong Guo made many important contributions to the field of theoretical and computational condensed matter physics. His interests are broad and include pioneering work in nano- and meso-scopic physics, quantum transport theory, and molecular electronics.

Hong is a world leader in ab initio modeling of quantum transport properties of nanoscale and molecular electronic devices. He and his group have developed new ab initio methods which solve the transport problem for nanoelectronic devices and as a result have succeeded to obtain for the first time the non-equilibrium charge transport properties of molecular devices. This work represents a very important step forward in nano-electronics theory and laid the foundation of first principles theory and modeling of molecular electronics.

In addition, Hong also made important contributions to the understanding of the electronic properties of carbon nanotubes devices. In particular, he investigated the hybrid device of nanotube magnetic tunnel junction as well as other related nanotube hybrid devices, including nanotube-superconductor junctions, AC conduction through nanotube devices, nanotube parametric electron pumps, Coulomb Blockade properties, resonance tunneling, and symmetry properties. He has solved the long-standing theoretical problem of including displacement current into AC quantum transport theory from which he could explain the dynamic conductance of carbon nanotubes.

Hong’s new approach that combines Keldysh nonequilibrium Green’s functions (NEGF) and the density functional theory (DFT), provides also a powerful tool for calculating quantum mechanical forces during transport and allowed him to investigate many structural problems of nanostructures.

Hong has been and is also pursuing many other interests including the study of the charge transport in bio-molecules, of transport properties of hybrid mesoscopic systems including semiconductor-superconductor systems, semiconductor-magnetic systems, etc…, the study of polymer-surface interactions using statistical models to understand the self-assembly process, and the application of first principle techniques to surface problems including friction and adhesion.

Hong Guo’s important work is being done at the cutting edge of current research in condensed-matter physics. He has put McGill, and indeed Canada, on the map in this important research area of quantum transport and nanoscience.

The Brockhouse medal was introduced for the first time in 1999 and is sponsored jointly by the Division of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (DCMMP) and the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP). It is named in honour of Bertram Brockhouse, whose outstanding contributions to research in condensed matter physics in Canada were recognized by the 1994 Nobel Prize for Physics. The medal is awarded annually. Dr. Guo will receive the 2006 Medal during the CAP's awards banquet to be held in St. Catharines on June 13th, 2006.

The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics.

For more information, please contact:

Canadian Association of Physicists
Tel: (613) 562-5614
Fax: (613) 562-5615
E-mail: cap@physics.uottawa.ca