Study on Mechanical Properties of Nano Materials and Protein Dynamics Using Original Phonon Measurements

Using our original optical-acoustical measurement systems, we study mechanical behavior of nanomaterials and kinetics of biomolecules, and develop instruments for diagnosis and drug discovery. One important keyword is “resonance”. At resonance, information on mechanical and electromagnetic properties are highly enhanced, allowing high-sensitive measurements in condensed matter physics and protein science. We control sound via light and vice versa to investigate phonon properties in nanofilms, nanowires, and nanodots, and binding and aggregation reactions among various biomolecules. We also study application of our original phonon-photon measurements for biosensors and diagnosis for neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease.

BIOSENSORS

• TIRFM-QCM: Watching and hearing the fibrillation phenomenon of protein
• Ultrahigh-Sensitive Wireless-Electrodeless QCM Biosensors

PROTEIN SCIENCE

• Ultrasonic Acceleration of Fibrillation of Proteins

Elastic Constants Study

• Mode-Identified Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy

Nano-Mechanics

• Brillouin Oscillation for Elasticity of Functional Oxides, Nitrides, and Diamonds
• Picosecond Ultrasonics Elastic Constants of Nano-Materials
• Thermal Mode Spectroscopy for Studying Thermal Conductivity of Small Slids
• Resonant Ultrasound Microscopy for Local Young's Modulus

Non-destructive Evaluation of Materials with EMAT

• Development of Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMATs)