Russell Thompson

Assistant Professor

Office: PHY 355
Phone: (519) 888-4567 ext. 32219
Email: thompson@uwaterloo.ca

Research interests

• Soft condensed matter physics
• Theory of block copolymers, nanocomposite materials, self-assembled nanostructures
• Self-consistent field theory
• Computational physics

Research activities

Self-assembly is a term that refers to the ability of certain molecules to assemble into regular structures by themselves. Block copolymers are a classic example of self-assembling molecules, and are being increasingly examined as a "bottom-up" route to nanotechnology. They have the ability to form intricate periodic structures with feature sizes in the range of 5nm to over 100nm.

Research is being conducted into block copolymer behaviour using self-consistent field theory (SCFT), one of the best theoretical tools available in soft condensed matter physics. Specifically, the structures of nanocomposite materials are being examined, where nanoscale filler particles are added to the polymer matrix to create hybrid materials. The mechanical properties of both nanocomposite and pure block copolymer systems are also being predicted using the SCFT approach.

SCFT is usually solved numerically, so the development of new computational algorithms for it is on-going. Opportunities to apply SCFT and the surrounding numerical techniques to other non-polymeric "soft" systems are also being explored.