Assoc. Prof.
Education
Laurea in Physics, Univ. of Pavia (1992)
Ph.D. Physics, Univ. of Trieste (1998)
Contact Information
228 Dow Hall, Dept. Physics
Phone: (989) 774-2564 Fax: (989)-774-2697
e-mail: fornari @ phy.cmich.edu
http://www.phy.cmich.edu/people/fornari/
Research Fields
Theoretical condensed matter physics and materials science. First
principles calculations based on density functional theory and
simplified models.
Current Research Projects
First principles methods in condensed matter physics have recently
evolved to a point where the properties of materials can be
successfully predicted based solely on their chemical composition. The
search for novel compounds, on the other hand, still demands heuristic
understanding that captures the phenomena and provides guidance to
design and identify promising systems. Dr. Fornari's research aim to
distill design rules to be used to design novel functional materials.
Several systems are currently under investigations to optimize
thermal-energy conversion, piezoelectric response, and photovoltaic
performance. Research
is done using the computational facilities of the Department of
Physics. The work is mostly on energetics, band structure, and phonon
dispertion from which optimization strategies can be designed. Funding
sources include PRF, Res. Corp., ARL, and CMU.
Figure below:
The study of functional materials is directly linked with important
applications. The graphics below represents the link between the
properties of piezoelectric alloys such as PZT with transducers and
acutuators
Selected Publications
M. Ghita, M. Fornari, D. J. Singh and S. V. Halilov, "Interplay between
A-site and B-site driven instabilities in perovskites." Phys. Rev. B72, 054114 (2005)
A. Muller, P. Bianucci, C. Piermarocchi, M. Fornari, L. C. Robin, R.
Andre, and C. K. Shih, “Time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy of
individual Te impurity centers in ZnSe, Phys. Rev. B73, 081306 (2006).
N. Bernstein, J. L. Feldman, and M. Fornari, “Structural model of
amorphous silicon annealed with tight binding”, Phys. Rev. B74, 205202 (2006).
G. B. Wilson-Short, D. J. Singh, M. Fornari, and M. Suewattana,
"Thermoelectric properties of rhodates: layered beta-SrRh2O4 and spinel
ZnRh2O4, Phys. Rev. B75, 035121 (2007)
Figure: Band structure of La(Ru,Rh)Sb3 computed using density functional theory. This designed materials should exhibit large thermopower at room temperature.