Gwo-Ching Wang
— Professor and Chair, Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Education:
— Ph.D., Materials Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1978
— M.S., Physics, Northern Illinois University, 1973
— B.S., Physics, Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, 1968

Career Highlights:
Wang spent two years at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and four years at Oak Ridge National Lab before joining Rensselaer in 1984. She is a Rensselaer Early Career Award winner, a Nottingham Prize winner in Physical Electronics, and is a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the American Vacuum Society. She has published over 150 journal papers, two books, and four book chapters, and has given over 70 national and international invited talks and 80 contributed talks.

Eight of her former doctoral students have received twelve national student awards. Some of her former students work for such prestigious companies as Intel, Motorola, Applied Materials, Iomega, and Sharp Microelectronics; others have gone on to work for Wall Street, the U.S. Navy and other universities.

Wang has served as the director and principal investigator of the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) since 1992. Through REU, over 150 undergraduates from colleges all over the U.S. have participated in summer research programs. Over 95 percent of these participants have gone on to graduate schools during the past eleven years. She also served as the traineeship supervisor from 1993 to 1995 for an Office of Naval Research program that allowed high school students to participate in her group's research prior to attending college.

Research Areas:
Wang's research interests include nanometer scale characterization of physical, chemical, and magnetic properties of surfaces, interfaces, ultrathin films, and nanostructures; mechanical and electronic properties of nanostructures; surface phase transitions and thin film stability; magnetism of ultrathin ferromagnetic films; and dynamic scaling in submonolayer and thin film growth/etch fronts.

Selected Publications:
J.P. Singh, G.-R. Yang, T.-M. Lu, and G.-C. Wang, "Retardation of Oxidation in Co Nanocolumns: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy," Applied Physics Letters, 81, 4601, (2002).

Q.M. Hudspeth, K.P. Nagle (2001 REU student), Y.-P. Zhao, T. Karabacak, C.V. Nguyen (ELORET Corp.), M. Meyyappan (NASA), G.-C. Wang, and T.-M. Lu, "How Does an MWNT AFM Tip Affect the Determination of Surface Roughness Statistics?" accepted by Surface Science, 515, 453, (2002).

D.-X. Ye, Y.-P. Zhao, G.-R. Yang, Y.-G. Zhao, G.-C. Wang, and T.-M. Lu, "Manipulating the Column Tilt Angles of Nanocolumnar Films by Glazing Angle Deposition," Nanotechnology, 13, 615, (2002).

Y.-P. Zhao, D.-X. Ye, G.-C. Wang, and T.-M. Lu, "Novel Nano-column and Nano-flower Arrays by Glancing Angle Deposition," Nano Letters, 2, 351, (2002).

Y.-P. Zhao, D.-X. Ye, Pei-I Wang, G.-C. Wang, and T.-M. Lu, "Fabrication of Si Nano-columns and Si Square Spirals on Self-assembled Monolayer Colloid Substrates," International Journal of Nanoscience, 1, 87, (2002).

J.B. Wedding, G.-C. Wang, and T.-M. Lu, "Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Study of Rough Si Films Deposited on Si(111)," Surface Science, 478, 83, (2001).

Y.-P. Zhao, G.-C. Wang, and T.-M. Lu, Characterization of Amorphous and Crystalline Roughness - Principles and Applications, Academic Press (2001).

Y.-P. Zhao, B.-Q. Wei, P.M. Ajayan, G. Ramanath, T.-M. Lu, G.-C. Wang, A. Rubio, and S. Roche, "Anomalous Frequency Dependent Electrical Transport in Carbon Nanotubes," Physical Review B, 64, 201402, (2001).

J.T. Drotar, B.-Q. Wei, Y.-P. Zhao, G. Ramanath, P.M. Ajayan, T.-M. Lu, and G.-C. Wang, "Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction from Carbon Nanotubes," Physical Review B, 64, 125417, (2001).

Y.-P. Zhao, J.T. Drotar, G.-C. Wang, and T.-M. Lu, "Morphology Transition During Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition," Physical Review Letters, 87, 136102, (2001).

Y.-P. Zhao, J.B. Fortin, G. Bonvallet (1999 REU student), G.-C. Wang, and T.-M. Lu, "Kinetic Roughening in Polymer Film Growth by Vapor Deposition," Physical Review Letters, 85, 3229, (2000).

Contact Information:
G.-C. Wang
1C25 Science Center
Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, N.Y. 12180
(518) 276-8387
wangg@rpi.edu
www.rpi.edu/~wangg

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