Serif Uran

Education

Ph.D., Illinois Institute of Technology, Illinois, U.S.A., 2000

Courses Taught

PHYS 104 Engineering Physics I
PHYS 105 Engineering Physics II
PHYS 100 College Physics I
PHYS 100 College Physics II
PHYS 130 Elementary Physics Lab
PHYS 512 Electricity and Magnetism
PHYS 516 Modern Physics
PHYS 532 Electronic Circuits I
PHYS 716 Introductory Quantum Mechanics
PHYS 812 Classical Electrodynamics (Graduate)
PHYS 816 Quantum Mechanics (Graduate)
PHYS 742 Surface Physics
PHYS 750 Solid State Physics

Advising

I am currently an advisor for Society of Physics Students (SPS). SPS is a national organization and our university is in Zone 12. Pittsburg State University SPS Chapter has recently been selected as an outstanding chapter. Our chapter has also won two research grant awards (total $4000) from SPS. We are also a member of Sigma Pi Sigma honor society.

Research Interests

My research interests are mostly in experimental solid state physics. Particularly, I am interested in high temperature oxidation of metals. I use relatively new techniques to characterize native oxide formed at high temperatures on alloys. Native oxide can provide protection for the substrate alloy against further oxidation. Therefore, it is important to retain the oxide layer. I study the stress, thickness change and composition of the oxide film, which give clues about the integrity of the oxide layer.

I also have an interest in magnetic thin films and electrical/optical characterization of magnetoresistance. Magnetoresistive thin films are of interest due to their potential for computer read heads. Thin (~2 nm) magnetic and non-magnetic (spacer) metal layers can be deposited on substrates (i.e., Silicon, MgO, Sapphire etc.). This structure is called superlattice. By controlling the spacer layer thickness one can change the magnetization of the film from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic. Granular films can also be studied to achieve ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic behavior. Particle size could be an important parameter in this case.

Studying binary liquid mixtures can give us information about critical phenomenon, which deals with how two different constituents mix under different conditions. Specifically, magnetization can be considered as a critical phenomenon since spin up and spin down electrons can be considered as binary mixture. 

Dr. Serif Uran's research website