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Physics Newsletter 2019
Physics Newsletter 2018
Physics Newsletter 2017
Physics Newsletter 2016

What is in the Haggerty Science Center basement…?

By  RuthAnne Ard - February 16, 2024 
Two research students work with radiation and don’t turn into the Hulk

This past summer, a team at the ³Ô¹ÏÍø consisting of Dr. David Catlett and two research students, Thomas Waterman, sophomore physics major, and Jaihan Utailawon, junior physics major, collaborated with Texas A&M and Cerium Labs for a research project.  Recruited by affiliate research professor Dr. Will Flanagan, Catlett’s experience working in the semiconductor industry made him perfect for running the ³Ô¹ÏÍø section.

Catlett’s team created a scenario to bombard a SRAM – a computer memory chip – with neutrons and observe the effects. At the same time, Dr. Jacob Moldenhauer worked with a group of students at CERN to observe the time of flight in neutrons. Moldenhauer’s work contributed to the understanding of nuclear physics, while Catlett’s work focused on the computer industry.

The students worked to simulate the experiment using a program called GEANT-4. This allowed them to calculate overall radiation dosage and exposure and create a chamber to contain both the source, californium 252, and the experiment.

They constructed a box out of cement in the basement of HSC, ensuring no radiation escaped the area of experimentation. The goal was to test semiconductors for boron 10. Computers using this isotope are subject to disruption and self-fission upon encountering neutrons. This affects what materials can be used in computers used in space, for example. To read more click below.

Physics Profess, Students Develop Smallest Neutron Detector 

Assistant Professor of Physics Will Flanagan, PhD, was recently awarded a $450,000 contract from the Air Force for his work in developing the world’s smallest neutron detector. Of this grant, $135,000 will go to ³Ô¹ÏÍø to support Flanagan’s work with undergraduate physics students in the Physics Department at ³Ô¹ÏÍø; the remainder will go to the small business colleagues in Austin with whom the ³Ô¹ÏÍø team is collaborating. 

For what does one use the world’s smallest neutron detector? One important use is to detect radioactive material — i.e., the plutonium or uranium core of a nuclear weapon — as it sneaks across the border; the device would be used at ports of entry such as seaports and airports. Flanagan himself is a second lieutenant in the Texas Army National Guard; his unit is the one that would respond to a nuclear disaster. 

 
Physics Students Spend Summers at CERN as Part of New Collaboration

IRVING, Texas (Nov. 20, 2023) — Most ³Ô¹ÏÍø students trade the mesquite trees of Dallas, TX, for the vineyards of Marino for a summer experience of licking gelato and discussing architecture under the warm European sun. Still others trade the prairie lands in summer months for the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in particle physics, thanks to a collaboration between the and the Department of Physics at ³Ô¹ÏÍø.

CERN Trips 2019-2023