Phillip Sprungersprunger

Professor of Physics

Ph.D., 1993 - University of Pennsylvania

Louisiana State University
Department of Physics & Astronomy
217-B Nicholson Hall, Tower Dr.
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4001
225-578-1254-Office
[email protected]

Research Interests

Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

Our research group is focused on understanding interconnecting atomic/morphological, electronic/magnetic and chemical/chemisorption properties of various surface/thin-film/nanophase systems using complementary experimental probes. This includes employing synchrotron-based-VUV photoemission (high-resolution and spin-resolved), -IR spectromicroscopy, -x-ray absorption, along with electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Systems that are currently being investigated include heteroepitaxially grown metal-on-metal (e.g. Ag/Cu, Co/Ag, Ag nanowires/Cu) and metal-on-semiconductor systems (e.g. Ag/GaAs, Be/Si), intermetallic alloy thin-film and surface systems (e.g. FeAl), simple and complex adsorbate and biological overlayers (amino acid/polymers/SiO2 and Au), polymer photo-induced degradation, and metal on metal-oxide nano-structures (e.g. Ag/Al2/O3/FeAl). Research emphasis is on correlating electronic/magnetic/photonic properties (hybridization, band-structure electron-phonon, electron-electron interactions) with atomic structure (STM, AFM, LEED, SEXAFS).

Current and Select Publications

  • Evan Andrews, Maoming Ren, Fei Wang, Ziyu Zhang, Phillip Sprunger, Richard Kurtz and John Flake, "Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 at Cu Nanocluster / (10-10) ZnO Electrodes," Journal of The Electrochemical Society (2013).
  • Patterson, Matthew C; Nie, Xiaowa; Wang, Fei; Kurtz, Richard L; Sinnott, Susan B; Asthagiri, Aravind R; Sprunger, Phillip; "Growth and Structure of Cu and Au on the Non-polar ZnO (1010) Surface: STM, XPS, and DFT Studies," The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 117, 18386 (2013).
  • Patterson, Matthew C; Keilbart, Nathan D; Kiruri, Lucy W; Thibodeaux, Chad A; Lomnicki, Slawo; Kurtz, Richard L; Poliakoff, ED; Dellinger, Barry; Sprunger, Phillip T, "EPFR Formation from Phenol adsorption on Al2O3 and TiO2: EPR and EELS studies," Chemical Physics 422, 277 (2012).
  • Le, M; Ren, M; Zhang, Z; Sprunger, PT; Kurtz, RL; Flake, JC, "Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to CH3OH at Copper Oxide Surfaces," Journal of The Electrochemical Society 158, 5 E45-E49 (2011).
  • Senevirathne, IC; Kizilkaya, O; Kurtz, RL; Sprunger, PT, "Nucleation, growth and morphology of Co thin films on Ag (110)," Surface Science603, 16 2463-2468 (2009).
  • Wang, Fei; Womack, Frank; Sprunger, Phillip T; Kurtz, Richard L, "Optical excitations of metallic nanoclusters buried in TiO2 for solar photochemistry," SPIE Solar Energy+ Technology  74080G-74080G-9 (2009). 

 

LSU