Wai-Ning Mei

Background

Professional Experience

Teaching

I have taught both the algebra-based and calculus-based general physics courses, and upper level physics courses, which include Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Electricity and Magnetism, Quantum Mechanics, Molecular and Solid State Physics, Mathematical and Computation Physics. I also taught graduate courses, such as Quantum Mechanics and Advanced Quantum Mechanics at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and National Chiao-Tung University, Republic of China. I supervise undergraduate physics students, and assist them to publish their senior projects at the undergraduate research journal. Furthermore, I supervise physics, mathematics and engineering M.S and Ph.D. students of the University of Nebraska at both Omaha and Lincoln. I also mentor physics M. S. and Ph.D. students at the National Chiao-Tung University, National Sun Yat-Sen University, and Academia Sinica of the Republic of China, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University, City University of Hong Kong, and Peking University of the People’s Republic of China during my visits and sabbatical leaves.

Research Interests

My research areas include: surface structure determination, multiple-scattering analysis of the low-energy electron diffraction and photoemission spectra, neutron scattering from flux lattice in the type-II superconductors, lattice dynamics of long chain polymers, first-principle total-energy electronic structure calculations of the half-metal, transition and rare-earth metal surfaces, nanostructurally designed materials, high-dielectric constant, ferroelectric and multiferroic materials, rotation and vibration spectra of the adsorbed molecules, molecular dynamics studies of alkali halides, metal oxides, and molecular solids, and applying variational method to the anharmonic, weakly, tightly bounded, and double-well potentials. Specific computation techniques include dynamical multiple scattering method, lattice dynamics, molecular dynamics, and first-principle full-potential linear-augment-plane-wave (FLAPW) method. Experienced with codes such as Materials Studio, VASP, WIEN2k, Gaussian, Abinit, SIESTA, SMEAGOL, NRLMOL, and self-consistent atomic deformation (SCAD) method combined with the SMODES symmetry-analysis software packages.

Recent Publications

“Graphdiyne-metal contacts and graphdiyne transistors”, Y. Y. Pan, Y. Y. Wang, L. Wang, H. X. Zhong, R. G Quhe, Z, Y. Ni, M. Ye, J. J. Shi, W. L. Guo, J. B. Yang, W. N. Mei and J. Lu. DOI: 10.1039/c4nr06541g, Nanoscale, (2015).

“The local structure of rare-earth (Nd, Gd, Dy, and Er) dopants in lithium tetraborate glasses”, T. D. Kelly, J. C. Petrosky, J. W. McClory, V. T. Adamiv, Ya. V. Burak, B. V. Padlyak, I. M. Teslyuk, N. Lu, L. Wang, W. N. Mei and P. A. Dowben. Frontier in Physics, 2, 1, (2014).

“The surface states of lithium tetraborate", L. Wang, W. N. Mei, and P. A. Dowben. J. Phys.:  Condens. Matter 25, 045014 (2013).

"Interfacial properties of bilayer and trilayer graphene on metal substrates", J. X. Zheng, Y. Y. Wang,L. Wang, R. G. Quhe, Z. Y Ni, W. N. Mei, Z. X. Gao, D.P. Yu, J. J. Shi, and J. Lu. Sci. Rep., 3, 2081 (2013).

“Tunable and sizable band gap of single layer graphene sandwiched between hexagonal boron nitrides”, R. G. Quhe, J. X. Zheng, Q. H. Liu, R. Qin, J. Zhou, D.P. Yu, W. N. Mei, S. Nagase, Z. X. Gao, and J. Lu. Nat. Asia Mater. 4, 1 (2012).

“The band structure of carbon-monoxide on 2-D Au islands on graphene”, K. Katsiev, Y. Losovyj, L. Wang, J. X. Zheng, E. Vescovo, L. Lu, W. N. Mei, P. A. Dowben, and D. W. Goodman. Applied Surface Science, 304, 35, (2014).

“Structural evolution of medium-sized gold clusters Au_n-(n = 36, 37, 38): appearance of bulk-like face center cubic fragment”, N. Shao, W. Huang, L. S. Wang, Q. Wu, W. N. Mei, and X. C. Zeng.J. Phys. Chem. C118, 6887, (2014).

“Electronic properties of lanthanide hexaboridenanowires”, L. Wang, G. F. Luo, D. Valencia, R. F. Sabirianov, J. Lu, J. Q. Lu, W. N. Mei, and C. L. Cheung. J. of Applied Physics. 113, 143709, (2013).

“Searching for electrical properties, phenomena and mechanisms in the construction and function of chromosomes", I. Kanev, W. N. Mei, A. Mizuno, K. DeHaai, J. Sanmann, M. Hess, L. Starr, J. Grove, B. Dave and W. Sanger. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, (2013). 6, 2013, e201303007,

http://dx.doi.org/10.5936/csbj.201303007.

"Resonant photoemission observations and DFT study of s-d hybridization in catalytically active gold clusters on ceria nanorods", Y. Zhou, N. J. Lawrence, L. Wang, L. Kong, T. S. Wu, J. Liu, Y. Gao, J. R. Brewer, V. K. Lawrence, R. F. Sabirianov, Y. L. Soo, X. C. Zeng, P. A. Dowben, W. N. Mei, and C. L. Cheung. Angew. Chem. Intl. 52, 6936 (2013). 

Synergetic Activities

• Provided mentored undergraduate research training opportunities for undergraduates at the University of Nebraska-Omaha with publications in the Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics and American Journal of Physics.
• Provide mentored graduate research training opportunities for visiting graduate students from Peking University, China (Students are supported by the Chinese Education Ministry, 2007 to present with publications in the referred journals, such as Small, Nano Letters, and J. of Chem. Phys, etc.)