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SAROJ K. NAYAK

Career Highlights

Nayak graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India in 1995, with a Ph.D. degree in physical science. Before joining the faculty at Rensselaer in 2000 Nayak was a Princeton Materials Institute Jr. Fellow at Princeton University. Professor Nayak has organized outreach program for K-12 and undergraduate schools and is a member of the American Physical Society.

Research Areas

Nayak’s research interests lie at the interface of physics, chemistry and engineering, with principle areas of focus on the study of atomic and electronic structures of matters using ab initio electronic structure calculation methods with classical and quantum molecular dynamics simulations and Monte Carlo methods. The two major recent focuses of Nayak’s research are: study of nanostructured materials and simulations of biological molecules using electronic structure methods. Professor Nayak's group is developing modifying ab initio codes to study materials at the nanoscale.

Selected Publications

• N.P. Adhikari, X. Peng, A. Alizadeh, S. Ganti, S.K. Nayak, and S.K. Kumar, "Multiscale Modeling of the Surfactant Mediated Synthesis and Supramolecular Assembly," Phys. Rev. Letts. 93, 188301 (2004)
• N. Chakrapani, Y. Zhang, S.K. Nayak, J.A. Moore, D.L. Carroll, Y.Y. Choi, P.M. Ajayan, "Chemisorption of Acetone on Carbon Nanotubes", J. Phys. Chem. 107, 9308 (2003)
• R. Pati, M. Mailman, L. Senapati, P. M. Ajayan, S.D. Mahanti, and S.K. Nayak, "Oscillatory Spin-polarized Conductance in Carbon Atom Wires," Phys. Rev. B 68, 014412 (2003)
• R. Pati, M. Mailman, L. Senapati, P. M. Ajayan, and S. K. Nayak, Phys. Rev. B 68, 014412 (2003).
  M. Grujicic, G. Cao, A.M. Rao, T.M. Tritt, S. K. Nayak, “Uv-light emhanced oxidation of carbon nanotube,”,J. Appl. Surf. Sci. 214, 289 (2003)
• S.N. Khanna, B.K. Rao, P. Jena, S.K. Nayak, “Stability and magnetic properties of iron atoms encapsulated in Si clusters,” Chem. Phys. Letts. 373, 433 (2003)
• T. Savage, S. Bhattacharya, B. Sadanadan, J. Gaillard, T.M. Tritt, Y.P. Sun, Y. Wu, S.K. Nayak, R. Car, N. Marzari, P.M. Ajayan, A.M. Rao, “Photoinduced oxidation of carbon nanotubes,” J. Phys. Cond. Matt. 15, 5915 (2003).
• L. Senapati, S.K. Nayak, B.K. Rao, P. Jena, “Atomic structure, binding energy, and magnetic properties of iron atoms supported on a polyaromatic hydrocarbon,” J. Chem. Phys. 8671 (2003)
• R. Pati, Y. Zhang, S.K. Nayak, and P.M. Ajayan, "Effect of H₂O Adsorption on Electron Transport in a Carbon Nanotube," Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 2638 (2002)
• P. Keblinski, S.K. Nayak, P. Zapol, P.M. Ajayan, "Charge Distribution and Stability of Charged Carbon Nanotubes," Phys. Rev. Lett 89, 255503 (2002)

Professional Appointments

2000-Present		Assistant Professor, Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
1998-2000		Princeton Materials Institute Fellow, Princeton University
1995-1998		Post-doctoral Fellow, Virginia Commonwealth University

Professional Preparation

Jawaharlal Nehru University

Physical Science

Ph.D. 1995