Educational Background
- PhD in Physics (1978) - University of Toronto, Physics
- MSc. in Physics (1973) - University of Toronto, Physics
- BA in Mathematics (1971) - University of Cambridge, Mathematics
Godfrey Gumbs
Distinguished Professor
- Research Areas
- Theoretical condensed matter physics, transport properties and mesoscopic systems
Godfrey Gumbs is a distinguished professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
See Contact DetailsResearch Interests
Dr. Gumbs' research interests include theoretical condensed matter physics, electronic and optical properties of semi-conductor mesoscopic and biological systems.
His area of research and scholarly activities have been dealing with the physics of low-dimensional electron and hole systems, The general thrust of his research work is concerned with developing an understanding of the quantum mechanical properties of the charge carriers in nanoscale semiconductor structures and devices. In particular, current work deals with the exchange and correlation effects on the optical and transport properties of nanostructures. These include Plasmon excitations and electron energy loss spectroscopy for multi-walled and single-walled nanotubes. The effects of magnetic fields and terahertz radiation on the collective excitations of nanotubes.
Other topics of his current research include:
- The Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction (SOI) effects in quasi-2D and 1D structures including nanotubes. We are examining the role played by SOI on plasma excitations, the ground-state energy and diffusion.
- Single electron transport using surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in piezoelectric heterostructures and their applications to acoustic spintronics for quantum optics and computing. The quantum entanglement in a SAW nanocircuit and the gate errors associated with leakage are being investigated. Read full publication.
- The photoconductivity at low and intermediate frequencies for the 2D electron system is a subject which is actively being pursued. Plans for extending our technique to the high-frequency regime are being formulated.
- Low-temperature magnetotransport measurements on GaSb/InAs/AlSb coupled quantum well structures with a GaSb cap layer were recently carried out. We explained the data with self-consistent calculations of their electronic structure. This led to the determination of the surface Fermi level (EFS) of undoped molecular-beam-epitaxy-grown GaSb. We also obtained the dependence of the EFS on the width of the GaSb cap layer. The EFS is pinned around 0.2 eV above the top of the GaSb valence band when the GaSb cap layer width is greater than around 900 Å. For smaller GaSb cap widths, EFS is determined by the surface depletion of holes from the GaSb cap layer. The undoped GaSb/InAs/AlSb heterostructure’s Fermi level is determined by bulk donor defects in the AlSb layer adjacent to the InAs quantum well. Further work is continuing on this project. Read full publication.
Awards and Honors
- 2012: Summer Faculty Fellow for the Air Force
- 2008: Faculty Fellow for the Air Force
- 2007: Faculty Fellow for the Air Force
- 2007: Visiting Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge University
- 2006: Faculty Fellow for the Air Force
- 2005: Bouchet Award of the American Physical Society
- 2005: Fulbright Senior Scholar to Israel
- 2004: Fellow of the American Physical Society
- 2004: Hunter College Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship
- 2002: 2002-2004 ITP Scholar
- 1995-1999: Member of the Editorial board: Progress in Surface Sciences
- 1993: Eugene Lang Student-Faculty Research Fellowship (Hunter College)
- 1991: Sigma-Xi Honorary Scientific Research Society
- 1987-1988: Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship
- 1982-1992: NSERC Universty Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 1978: National Research Council of Canada, Research Fellowship
- 1968-1972: Guyana Scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridg, UK
- 1966-1968: Prizes in Mathematics and Physics, University of London, UK
Courses
Courses Taught:
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- PHYS 101: Conceptual Physics
- PHYS 111: Intro to Mechanics
- PHYS 121: Introduction to Electricity & Magnetism, light, and Atomic Physics
- PHYS 334: Intermediate Electricity & Magnetism
- PHYS 336: Statistical Physics
- PHYS 425: Quantum Mechanics
- PHYS 445: Solid State Physics
- PHYS 745: Solid State Physics
- PHYS 845: Quantum Theory of Solids
Research Group
Collaborations with experimentalists to explain photoluminescence, photoreflectance and electron transport. (Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, The Army Research Laboratory, The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirkland AFB)
Postdoctoral Fellow:
- Dr. Po Hsin Shih - 1250B Hunter North
Research Associate:
- Dr. Nga Do - 1250B Hunter North
Doctoral Graduate Students: (1250B Hunter North)
- Sita Kandel
- Gabriel Pimenta Martins
- Caio Cesaar De Souza
- A. Nafis Arafat
AFOSR Visiting Scientist Program:
- Dr. Danhong Huang
Research Workshops
Members of the Graphene Workshop held in San Sebastian in August 2011. The Workshop was sponsored by the Donastia International Physics Center and a grant to Godfrey Gumbs by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research.