Experience:

Teaching Assistant
The University of Texas at Austin


Education:

B.S in Physics with Honors
Purdue University, 2005

martin@physics.utexas.edu
Office: RLM 14.310

Research Interests:

• Mechanical Contact Spectroscopy

Research:

We are using a technique called Mechanical Contact Spectroscopy (MCS) to analyze the properties of nanoscale particles brought into contact with the surface of a substrate. The particles, immersed in solution, are subjected to thermal forces and exhibit Brownian motion from the random collisions with the surrounding liquid. This motion can be captured on video. The formation of adhesive contact will result in the confinement of the particle to a point on the substrate surface. Depending on the force of adhesion and other factors, the fluctuations in the motion of the adhering particle will vary. Accurate measurement of the particle fluctuations can be used to determine the stiffness of the adhesive contact between the substrate and probe particle. This stiffness in turn characterizes the particle-substrate interactions and can be used to monitor changes in adhesion upon change of experimental conditions.

Publications


Affiliations:

• Center for Nonlinear Dynamics
• Department of Physics