Virginia Ayres

Investigates both inorganic and organic nanostructures. The small physical dimensions of nanostructures result in new and fascinating localized and sometimes quantized interactions. At the nano (10-9 m) level, the distinction between organic and inorganic behavior can be reduced to fundamental interactions common to both. However, very different applications are enabled by different combinations of the same fundamentals! Our group investigates two combinations, biocompatibility between organic and inorganic nanostructures, and nanocircuits for applications in harsh radiation and low temperature environments.