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Dr. James W. Evans

Ames Laboratory Associate and Professor, Iowa State University
Address
315 Wilhelm Hall
The Ames Laboratory
Ames, IA 50011-3020
Phone 515-294-1638
Fax 515-294-4709
Email evans@ameslab.gov

Research Interests

  • Spatiotemporal behavior in chemisorption and catalysis on metal surfaces: realistic atomistic-level modeling of reaction kinetics; analysis of chemical diffusion and multi-scale modeling of reaction-diffusion behavior; analysis of fluctuations in nanoscale systems.
  • Fundamental statistical mechanical studies of far-from-equilibrium reaction-diffusion phenomena including kinetic phase transitions.
  • Interplay between anomalous transport and reaction in catalytically-functionalized mesoporous and nanoporous materials.
  • Self-assembly and stability of single- and multi-component epitaxial metal nanostructures formed by deposition on single-crystal surfaces.
  • Growth and relaxation epitaxial thin films: submonolayer nucleation & growth of islands; multilayer kinetic roughening; post-deposition coarsening; step flow during growth and erosion.

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    Selected Projects

  • Realistic multi-site lattice-gas models for CO-oxidation on Pd(100), Rh(100), Pt(100), and other surfaces.
  • Heterogeneous-coupled-lattice-gas modeling of patterns and fronts in catalytic surface reactions (HCLG is our Heterogeneous Multiscale Method).
  • Statistical mechanical analysis of discontinuous poisoning transitions (including generic two-phase coexistence and metastability) in reaction-diffusion models.
  • Modeling of catalytic conversion reactions and polymerization reactions in nanoporous systems with single-file diffusion.
  • Continuous-random-network models structure of amorphous materials (e.g., mesoporous oxide catalysts).
  • Formation of epitaxial nanostructures by deposition on a NiAl(110) binary alloy substrate, including analysis of alloy self-growth.
  • Effect of chalcogen additives (S, O) on stability of noble metal surface nanostructures (including additive-enhanced coarsening and cluster mobility).
  • Predictive atomistic and coarse-grained modeling of homoepitaxial thin film growth (for both submonolayer and multilayer regimes).
  • Development of general multi-site lattice-gas models and KMC simulation algorithms incorporating precise kinetics (surface diffusion barriers) for epitaxial systems.


        Project Affiliations:
        Chemical Physics

        Group Website:
        Evans Research Group

(Chronologically most recent on top)Education

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, 1979-81, Chemical Physics, Iowa State University
  • Ph.D. 1979, Mathematical Physics, University of Adelaide, Australia
  • B.Sc. (Hons) 1975, Mathematics, University of Melbourne, Australia

(Chronologically most recent on top)Professional Appointments

  • Senior Scientist, 1996-present; Chemist, 1993-96; Associate Scientist, 1983-93; Assistant Chemist, 1982-83, Ames Laboratory-USDOE.
  • Professor of Physics & Astronomy, 2010-present, Iowa State University
  • Professor of Mathematics, 1996-present; Associate Professor of Mathematics, 1991-1996, Iowa State University.
  • Visiting Scientist, Institute of Mathematics & its Applications, U. Minnesota, 2009.
  • Visiting Scientist, Institute of Physics - CAS, Beijing, 2009.
  • Visiting Scientist, Ecole des Mines, Nancy, France, 2000.
  • Visiting Scientist, Fritz Haber Institute, Berlin, Germany, 1991.

(Chronologically most recent on top)Honors & Awards

  • Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2002-present.

(Chronologically most recent on top)Publications with the Ames Laboratory

2008
Han Y; Evans J W; Liu D J . 2008. Quantum stabilities and growth modes of thin metal films: Unsupported and NiAl-supported Ag(110) and Ag(100). Surface Science. 602:2532-2540. abstract
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Li M; Chung P W; Cox E; Jenks C J; Thiel P A; Evans J W . 2008. Exploration of complex multilayer film growth morphologies: STM analysis and predictive atomistic modeling for Ag on Ag(111). Physical Review B. 77:033402. abstract
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Guo X F; Evans J W; Liu D H . 2008. Generic two-phase coexistence, relaxation kinetics, and interface propagation in the quadratic contact process: Analytic studies. Physica a-Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications. 387:177-201. abstract
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2007
Unal B; Qin F; Han Y; Liu D J; Jing D P; Layson A R; Jenks C J; Evans J W; Thiel P A . 2007. Scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory study of initial bilayer growth of Ag films on NiAl(110). Physical Review B. 76:195410. abstract
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Guo X F; Liu D J; Evans J W . 2007. Generic two-phase coexistence, relaxation kinetics, and interface propagation in the quadratic contact process: Simulation studies. Physical Review E. 75:061129. abstract
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Shen M M; Wen J M; Jenks C J; Thiel P A; Liu D J; Evans J W . 2007. Ripening of monolayer vacancy pits on metal surfaces: Pathways, energetics, and size-scaling for Ag(111) versus Ag(100). Physical Review B. 75:245409. abstract
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Liu D J; Evans J W . 2007. Fronts and fluctuations in a tailored model for CO oxidation on metal(100) surfaces. Journal of Physics-Condensed Matter. 19:065129. abstract
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Liu D J; Evans J W . 2007. Fluctuations and patterns in nanoscale surface reaction systems: Influence of reactant phase separation during CO oxidation. Physical Review B. 75:073401. abstract
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Unal B; Fournee V; Schnitzenbaumer K J; Ghosh C; Jenks C J; Ross A R; Lograsso T A; Evans J W; Thiel P A . 2007. Nucleation and growth of Ag islands on fivefold Al-Pd-Mn quasicrystal surfaces: Dependence of island density on temperature and flux. Physical Review B. 75:064205. abstract
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Liu D; Guo X F; Evans J W . 2007. Quadratic contact process: Phase separation with interface-orientation-dependent equistability. Physical Review Letters. 98:050601. abstract
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