Dr. Ralf Brüning

Associate Professor of Physics

Email: rbruening AT mta DOT ca

Phone (506) 364-2587
Fax (506) 364-2583
Secretary (506) 364-2530
Office: Dunn 216

Physics Department
Mount Allison University
Sackville, NB
Canada E4L 1E6
Background

1992–1995

1990–1992

1990

1986

1982–1984

1981–1982

Research Associate, Centre for the Physics of Materials, McGill University

Wissenschaftlicher Assistent, Physics Department, Universität Augsburg

PhD in Physics, McGill University

MSc in Physics, McGill University

Universität Kiel (Physik), Germany (Vordiplom in physics 1983)

Universität Bonn (Physik), Germany

 

Research Interests


My main area of work is x-ray scattering, with focus on studying the properties of glasses and supercooled liquids. In the past I have looked at how network glasses change upon annealing, how their structure and thermal properties are affected by cooling or quenching at different rates. Generally the samples are prepared and measured in my own laboratory here at Mount Allison University, but my students and I are also using facilities elsewhere (Centre for the Physics of Materials at McGill University, Chalk River Neutron Scattering Facility, and the Laboratoire des Verres in Montpellier, France).

I enjoy very much working with students in my research laboratory, an activity that bridges teaching and research.

Theta-theta x-ray scattering setup in my laboratory.

 

Teaching Interests


The Physics Department at Mount Allison University has moved towards a studio style approach to teaching. This approach emphasizes group work and the interaction between the students. As a result, students acquire the ability to communicate their results, and, as a consequence, are better prepared to remember the important concepts. I have implemented this approach, to varying degrees, in all the courses that I am teaching.
I enjoy developing experiments for the teaching laboratories as well as for in-class experiments. An example for a novel design of a Compton Scattering experiment (energy change of scattered gamma rays) is shown at http://www.mta.ca/~mahmady/compton.htm . This setup was developed jointly with Prof. Ahmady. The ring-design allows one to perform the experiment with a much weaker radioactive source than in the usual setup.
I have taught, at various times, the following courses at Mount Allison University:


Physics 1051 - General Physics I
Physics 1551 - General Physics II
Physics 2251 - Classical Waves
Physics 3511 - Physics for the Life Sciences
Physics 3521 - Biosensory Physics
Physics 3701 - Engineering Thermodynamics
Physics 3701 - Thermodynamics
Physics 3811 - Quantum Waves
Physics 4201 - Solid State Physics
Physics 4951 - Special Topics
Physics 4990 - Honours Thesis

 

Awards

2004 - Obed Edmund Smith Chair in Physics (Mount Allison University)

2004 - Paul Pare Medal (Mount Allison University)

2002 - Paul Pare Excellence Award (Mount Allison University)

Undergraduate and Graduate Studies  Evangelisches Studienwerk e.V.

 

Publications since 1995

(Electronic) reprints available upon request.

Peer reviewed publications since 1995 (student, postdoc)

  1. S. Balaji, Y. Djaoued, A-S. Albert, R.Z. Ferguson and R. Brüning, Hexagonal Tungsten Oxide Based Electrochhromic Devices, Spectroscopic Evidence for the Li ion Occupance of 4-Coordinated Square Windows, Chem. Mater. 21 1381-1389 (2009).

  2. R. Brüning, J.B. Galbraith, K.E. Braedley, S. Balaji, Y. Djaoued, F.O. Adurodija, XRD and micro-Raman study of polymerization in (B2O3)1-x(H2O)x glasses and liquids, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 1151, TT01-05 (2009).

  3. R. Brüning, D.A. St-Onge, S. Patterson, W. Kob, Glass transitions in 1, 2, 3 and 4 dimensional binary Lennard-Jones Systems, J. Phys: Condens. Matter. 21 035117 (11 pages) (2009) .

  4. D. Mossman, J. Ehrman, R. Brüning, L. Semple and L. Groat, Skunk calcite: mineralparagenesis in an amethyst geode from Ametista, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Mineralogical Record 40 (2), 121-125 (2009).

  5. S. Balaji, A.-S Albert, Y. Djaoued, R. Brüning, Micro-Raman spectroscopic characterization of a tunable electrochromic device for appliation in smart windows, J. Raman Spectrosc. 40, 92-100 (2009).

  6. N. Seirafinanpour, S. Badilescu, Y. Djaoued, R. Brüning, S. Balaji, M. Kahrizi, Vo-Van Truong, Optical Properties of Low Temperature Prepared Granular Titanium Dioxide on a Silver Substrate, Thin Solid Films 516, 6359-6364 (2008).

  7. R. Brüning, C. Levelut, R. Le Parc, A. Faivre, L. Semple, J.-P. Simon, M. Vallee, J.-L. Hazemann, Temperature Scanning SAXS Measurements of Structural Relaxation in Type-III Vitreous Silica, J. Appl. Phys. 102, 083535, (2007).

  8. David Mossman, François Gauthier-Lafaye, Adriana Dutkiewicz, and Ralf Brüning, Carbonaceous substances in Oklo reactors-Analogue for permanent deep geologic disposal of anthropogenic nuclear waste, Rev. Eng. Geol. 19, chapter 1, 14 pages, 2008.

  9. A. Cremonesi, G. Calestani, G. Antonioli, D. Beirsani, P.P Lottici, Y. Djaoued, R. Brüning, XAS analysis on mesoporous vanadium oxide thin films by sol-gel, X-ray Spectrom. 36, 226-229 (2007).

  10. Y. Djaoued, S. Badilescu, S. Balaji, N. Seirafianpour, A.-R. Hajiaboli, R.B. Sadeghian, K. Braedley, R. Brüning, M. Kahrizi and Vo-Van Truong, A Micro-Raman Spectroscopy Study of Colloidal Crystal Films of Polystyrene-Gold Composites, Applied Spectroscopy 61, 1201-1210 (2007).

  11. S.F. Brauer, M. Roseman and R. Brüning, Performance and Stability of Soft Magnetic Elements for Electronic Article Surveillance, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics 43, 1875-1879 (2007).

  12. C. Levelut, R. Le Parc, A. Faivre, R. Brüning, B. Champagnon, V. Marinez, J.-P. Simon, F. Bley and J.-L. Hazemann, Density fluctuations in oxide glasses investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering, J. Appl. Cryst. 40, S512-S516 Suppl., (2007).

  13. A. Cremonesi, D. Bersani, P.P. Lottici, Y. Djaoued and R. Brüning, Synthesis and structural characterization of mesoporous V2O3 thin films for electrochromic applications, Thin Solid Films 515, 1500-1505 (2006).

  14. F.O. Adurodija, L. Semple and R. Brüning, Crystallization process and electro-optical properties of In2O3 and ITO thin films, Journal of Materials Science 41, 7096-7102 (2006).

  15. F.O. Adurodija, L. Semple and R. Brüning, Real -time in situ crystallization and electrical properties of pulsed laser deposited In2O3 thin films, Thin Solid Films 492, 153-157 (2005).

  16. F.O. Adurodija, R. Brüning, I.O. Asia, H. Izumi, T. Ishihara and H. Yoshioka, Effects of laser irradiation energy density on the properties of pulsed laser deposited ITO thin films, Applied Physics A 81, 953-957 (2005).

  17. R. Brüning, C. Levelut, A. Faivre, R. LeParc, J.-P. Simon, F. Bley and J.-L. Hazemann, Characterization of the glass tranistion in vitreous silica by temperature scanning small-angle X-ray scattering, Europhys. Lett. 70, 211-217 (2005).

  18. R. Brüning, K. Bulmer, R. Bissessur, R.I. Haines, P. Varma and S. Emeneau, The Structure of a Molybdenum Disulfide Intercalation Compound, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 847, EE9.34.1-6 (2005).

  19. Y. Djaoued, J. Robichaud, R. Brüning and P.V Ashrit, Effect of ply(ethylen glycol) on the crystallisation and phase transition of nanocrystalline TiO2 Films, Materials Science-Poland 23, 15-23 (2005).

  20. Y. Djaoued, R. Brüning, D. Bersani, P.P. Lottici and S. Badilescu, Sol-Gel Nanocrystalline Brookite-Rich Titania, Materials Lett. 58, 2618-2622 (2004).

  21. R. Bissessur, B.D. Wagner and R. Brüning, Novel pyrene and 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid-MoS2 intercalates, J. Mater. Sci. 39, 119-125 (2004).

  22. D.J. Mossman, R. Brüning and H.P. Powell, Anatomy of a Jurassic Theropod Trackway from Arley, Oxfordshire, U.K., Ichnos 10, 195-207 (2003).

  23. Ralf Brüning, On the glass transition in vitreous silica by differential thermal analysis measurements, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 330, 13-22 (2003).

  24. R. Brüning and S. Patterson, Thermal and structural properties of B2O3-H2O glasses, J. Mater. Res. 18, 2494-2500 (2003).

  25. R. Bissessur, D. Gallant and R. Brüning, Novel nanocomposite material consisting of poly [oxymethylene-(oxyethylene)] and molybdenum disulfide, Mater. Chem. Phys. 82, 316-320 (2003).

  26. Y. Djaoued, P.V. Ashrit, S. Badilescu and R. Brüning, Synthesis and Characterisation of Macroporous Tungsten Oxide Films for Electrochtromic Application, J. of Sol-Gel Sci. Technol. 28, 235-244 (2003).

  27. R. Brüning and D. Cottrell, X-ray and neutron scattering observations of structural relaxation of vitreous silica, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 325, 6-15 (2003).

  28. Rabin Bissessur, David Gallant and Ralf Brüning, Novel intercalation compound of poly[oligo(ethylene glycol)-oxalate] in molybdenum disulfide, J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 22, 429-431 (2003).

  29. Y. Djaoued, P.V. Ashrit, S. Badilescu and R. Brüning, Micrcostructure, optical and electrochromic properties of sol-gel nanoporous tungsten oxide films, Advanced Optical Devices, Technologies, and Medical Applications, Proceedings of SPIE 5123. 202-209 (2003).

  30. Rabin Bissessur, David Gallant and Ralf Brüning, New poly[bis-(methoxyethoxyethoxy)phosphazene]-MoS2 nanocomposite, Solid State Ionics 158, 205-209 (2003).

  31. Sulan Kuai, Simona Badilescu, Georges Bader, Ralf Brüning, Xingfang Hu and Vo-Van Truong, Preparation of Large-Area 3D Ordered Macroporous Titania Films by Silica Colloidal Templating, Adv. Mat. 15, 73-75 (2003).

  32. Rabin Bissessur, Robert I. Haines, and Ralf Brüning, Intercalation of tetraazamococycle into molybdenum disulfide, J. Mater. Chem. 13, 44-49 (2003).

  33. Eric McCalla and Ralf Brüning, Amorphization of crystalline orthoboric acid on a vitreous B2O3 substrate, J. Mater. Res. 17, 3098-3104 (2002).

  34. Y. Djaoued, Simona Badilsecu, P.V. Ashrit, D. Bersani, P.P. Lottici and R. Brüning, Low temperature sol-gel preparation of nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films, J. of Sol-Gel Sci. and Techn. 24, 247-254 (2002).

  35. Y. Djaoued, R. Taj, R. Brüning, S. Badilsecu, P.V. Ashrit, G. Bader and Vo-Van Truong, Study of the phase transition and the thermal nitridation of nanocrystalline sol-gel titania films, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 297, 55-66 (2002).

  36. Rabin Bissessur, Robert I. Haines, Dean R. Hutchings and Ralf Brüning, Intercalation of pendant-arm tetraazamococycle into molybdenum disulfide, Chem. Commun. 17, 1598-1599 (2001).

  37. Ralf Brüning, Edward Irving and Gilles LeBlanc, A Reverse Monte Carlo study of structural relaxation in vitreous selenium, J. Appl. Phys. 89, 3215-3222 (2001).

  38. Y. Djaoued, S. Badilescu, R. Taj, R. Brüning, P.V. Ashrit, G. Bader and Vo-Van Truong, High Temperature Transformation of Sol-Bel Derived TiO2 Thin Films into TiN Films, Schriften des Forschungszentrum Jülich, Series Energy Technology 15, 657-660 (2000).

  39. Ralf Brüning and Tim Crowell, A method to determine the kinetics of a supercooled liquid by temperature scanning measurements applied to (Li,Na)acetate and GeO2, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 248 (1999), 183-193.

  40. R. Brüning, A. Zaluska, M. Sutton, J.O. Ström–Olsen and S. Brauer, Crystallisation of near-eutectic CoZr alloys and the formation and fast decay of a bcc Co92Zr8 solid solution, J. Non–Cryst. Sol. 205-207, 540–545 (1996).

  41. R. Brüning and M. Sutton, Fragility of glass forming systems and the width of the glass transition, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 205-207, 480–484 (1996).

  42. M. Sutton, R. Brüning and E. Dufresne, Radial Scans in Momentum Space by Energy Analysis of X-rays, Nuc. Inst. and Meth. A 355, 654–659 (1995).

  43. S. Brauer, G.B. Stephenson, M. Sutton, R. Brüning, E. Dufresne, S.G. J. Mochrie, G. Grübel, J. Als-Nielson and D.L. Abernathy, X-ray intensity fluctuation spectroscopy observations of critical dynamics in Fe3Al, Phys. Rev. Let. 74 (1995) 2010–2014.

  44. E. Dufresne, R. Brüning, M. Sutton, B. Rodricks and G.B. Stephenson, A general technique for characterizing x-ray sensitive linear diode array and CCD arrays, Nuc. Inst. and Meth. A. 364, 380–393 (1995).

  45. Ming Mao, Z. Altounian and R. Brüning, X-ray diffraction measurement of structural relaxation, Phys. Rev. B 51, 2798–2805 (1995).

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Maintained by Ralf Brüning