Alumni Profiles

Michael Falk

  • Program Years: 1995-1998
  • Academic Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Field of Study: Physics
  • Academic Advisor: James Langer
  • Practicum(s):
    Los Alamos National Laboratory (1996)
  • Degree(s):
    Ph.D. Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1998
    M.S.E. Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, 1991
    B.A. Physics, Johns Hopkins University, 1990

Current Status

Publications

*62. T.C. Hufnagel, C.A Schuh, M.L. Falk, “Deformation of metallic glasses: Recent developments in theory, simulation, and experiments,” Acta Materialia, (2016) in press.
*61. A. Roy, Y.T. Cheng, M.L. Falk, “Amorphous ZnO-based Compounds as Thermoelectrics,” Journal of Physical Chemistry C, (2015) in press.
60. P. Yi, R.C. Cammarata, M.L. Falk, “Atomistic simulation of solid solution hardening in Mg/Al alloys: examination of composition scaling and thermo-mechanical relationships,” Acta Materialia, Vol. 2, Art. No. 1500015 (2015). DOI: 10.1002/advs.201500015.
59. R.M. Ireland, Y. Liu, X. Guo, Y.-T. Cheng, S. Kola, W. Wang, R. Yang, M.L. Falk, T. Jones and H.E. Katz, “ZT>0.1 Electron-Carrying Polymer Thermoelectric Composites with in-situ SnCl2 Microstructure Growth,” Advanced Science, Vol. 2, Art. No. 1500015 (2015). DOI: 10.1002/advs.201500015.
58. Y. Jin, C. Shao, J. Kieffer, M.L. Falk, M. Shtein, "Spatial nonuniformity in heat transport across hybrid material interfaces," Physical Review B, Vol. 90, No. 054306 (2014) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.90.054306.
57. J. Ding, S. Patinet, M.L. Falk, Y.Cheng, E. Ma, "Soft spots and their structural signature in metallic glass," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 111, pp. 14052 (2014) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1412095111.
56. W.-K. Kim and M.L. Falk, "A Practical Perspective on the Implementation of Hyperdynamics for Accelerated Simulation," Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 140, No. 4, Art. No. 044107 (2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4862269
55. A.J. Magana, M.L. Falk, M. Reese, "Introducing Discipline-Based Computing in Undergraduate Engineering Education," ACM Transactions on Computing Education, Vol. 13, No. 4, Art. 16 (2013).
54. R. Xu, T. Weihs, M.L. Falk, "Interdiffusion of Ni-Al multilayers: a continuum and molecular dynamics study," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 114, Art. No. 163511 (2013).
53. Y. Liu, P. Guan, B. Zhang, M.L. Falk, H.E. Katz, "Ion Dependence of Gate Dielectric Behavior of Beta-Aluminas in Oxide Field-effect Transistors," Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 25, pp 3788-3796 (2013). DOI: 10.1021/cm4012537
52. P. Guan, S. Lu, M.J.B. Spector, P.K. Valavala, M.L. Falk, "Cavitation in amorphous solids," Physical Review Letters Vol. 110, Art. No. 185502 (2013).
51. T. Jiang and M.L. Falk, "Calculations of the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of LiV3O8," Physical Review B, Vol. 85, Art. No. 245111 (2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.245111
50. U.K. Vempati, P.K. Valavala, M.L. Falk, J. Almer and T.C. Hufnagel, “Length-scale dependence of elastic strain from scattering measurements in metallic glasses,” Physical Review B, Vol. 85, Art. No. 214201 (2012).
49. W.-K. Kim and M.L. Falk, "Role of intermediate states in low-velocity friction between amorphous surfaces," Physical Review B, Vol. 84, Art. No. 165422 (2011).
48. F. Rizzi, M. Salloum, Y.M. Marzouk, R.-G. Xu, M.L. Falk, G. Fritz, O.M. Knio, “Bayesian Inference of atomic diffusivity in a binary Ni/Al system based on molecular dynamics,” Multiscale Modeling and Simulation, Vol. 9, pp. 486-512 (2011).
47. M.L. Falk and J.S. Langer, "Deformation and Failure of Amorphous Solidlike Materials," Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics Vol. 2, pp. 353-373 (2011) invited.
46. K.-W. Park, Y. Shibutani, M.L. Falk, B.-J. Lee and J.-C. Lee, "Shear localization and the plasticity of bulk amorphous alloys," Scripta Materialia, Vol. 63, pp. 231-234 (2010).
45. M.L. Falk and C.E. Maloney, "Simulating the mechanical response of amorphous solids using atomistic methods," European Physics Journal B, Vol. 75, pp. 405-413 (2010) invited.
44. B. Puchala, M.L. Falk and K. Garikipati, "An Energy Basin Finding Algorithm for Kinetic Monte Carlo Acceleration," Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 132, Art. No. 134104 (2010).
43. W.-K. Kim and M.L. Falk, "Accelerated molecular dynamics simulation of low-velocity frictional sliding," Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, Vol. 18, pp. 034003 (2010) invited.
42. W.-K. Kim and M.L. Falk, "Atomic-scale simulations on the sliding of incommensurate surfaces: The breakdown of superlubricity," Physical Review B, Vol. 80, Art. No. 235428 (2009).
41. H.J. Kim, A. Emge, R.E. Winter, P.T. Keightley, W.-K. Kim, M.L. Falk and D.A. Rigney, “Nanostructures generated by explosively driven friction – Experiments and MD simulations,” Acta Materialia, Vol. 57, pp. 5270-5282 (2009).
40. K.W. Park, C.M. Lee, M.R. Lee, E. Fleury, M.L. Falk and J.C. Lee, “Paradoxical phenomena between the homogeneous and inhomogeneous deformations of metallic glasses,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 94, pp. 021907 (2009).
39. K.W. Park, C.M. Lee, M. Wakeda, Y. Shibutani, M.L. Falk and J.C. Lee, “Elastostatically induced structural disordering in amorphous alloys,” Acta Materialia, Vol. 56, pp. 5440-5450 (2008).
38. J.T. Yim, M.L. Falk, I.D. Boyd, “Modeling low energy sputtering of hexagonal boron nitride by xenon ions,” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 104, Art. No. 123507 (2008).
37. B. Puchala, M.L. Falk and K. Garikipati, “Elastic effects on relaxation volume tensor calculations,” Physical Review B, Vol. 77, Art. No. 174116 (2008).
36. S.C. Lee, C.M. Lee, J.C. Lee, H.J. Kim, Y. Shibutani, E. Fleury and M.L. Falk, “Structural disordering process of an amorphous alloy driven by the elastostatic compression at room temperature,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 92, Art. No. 151906 (2008).
35. Y. Shi and M.L. Falk, “A computational analysis of the deformation mechanisms of nanocrystallite-metallic glass composites,” Acta Materialia, Vol. 56, pp. 995-1000 (2008).
34. H. J. Kim, W. K. Kim, M. L. Falk, D. A. Rigney, “MD simulations of microstructure evolution during high-velocity sliding between crystalline materials,” Tribology Letters, Vol. 28, pp. 299-306 (2007).
33. Y. Shi and M.L. Falk, “The structural origin of shear band formation in metallic glass studied via simulated nanoindentation,” Acta Materialia , Vol. 55, pp. 4317-4324 (2007).
32. Y. Shi, M.B. Katz, H. Li and M.L. Falk, “Evaluation of the disorder temperature and free volume formalisms via simulations of shear banding in amorphous solids,” Physical Review Letters, Vol. 98, Art. No. 185505 (2007).
31. Y. Shi and M. L. Falk, “Simulations of nanoindentation in a thin amorphous metal film,” Thin Solid Films, Vol. 515, pp. 3179-3182 (2007).
30. Y. Shi and M.L. Falk, “Atomic-scale Simulations of Strain Localization in Three-Dimensional Model Amorphous Solids,” Physical Review B , Vol. 73, Art. No. 214201, pp. 1-10 (2006).
29. C.-C. Chou, M. L. Falk, “Multiscale Diffusion Monte Carlo Simulation of Epitaxial Growth,” Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 217, pp. 519-529 (2006).
28. K. Garikipati, M. L. Falk, M. Bouville, B. Puchala, H. Narayanan, “The continuum elastic and atomistic viewpoints on the formation volume and strain energy of a point defect,” Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Vol. 54, pp. 1929-1951 (2006).
27. A. Bodapati, M. M. J. Treacy, M. Falk, J. Kieffer and P. Keblinski, “Medium Range Order and Radial Distribution Function,” Journal of Non-crystalline Solids, Vol. 352, pp. 116-122 (2006).
26. Y. Shi and M.L. Falk, “Does metallic glass have a backbone? The role of percolating short range order in strength and failure,” Scripta Materialia, Vol. 54, pp. 381-386 (2006).
25. Y. Shi and M. L. Falk, “Strain localization and percolation of stable structure in amorphous solids,” Physical Review Letters, Vol. 95, Art. No. 095502, pp. 1-4 (2005).
24. F. Albano and M. L. Falk, “Shear softening and structure in a simulated three-dimensional binary glass,” Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 122, Art. No. 154508, pp. 1-8 (2005).
23. M. L. Falk, “AtomLab: A tool for teaching materials science and simulation on the atomic scale,” Journal of Materials Education, Vol. 26, pp. 225-232 (2005).
22. Y. Shi and M.L. Falk, “Structural transformation and localization during simulated nanoindentation of a non-crystalline metal film,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 86, Art. No. 011914, pp. 1-3 (2005).
21. J.H. Wu, S. Karthikeyan, M.L. Falk and D.A. Rigney, “Tribological characteristics of diamond-like-carbon (DLC) based nanocomposite coatings,” Wear, Vol. 259, pp. 744-751 (2004).
20. J.H. Wu, M.L. Falk, D.A. Rigney, J.H. Sanders, A.A. Voevodin, J.S. Zabinski, “Tribological Behavior of WC/DLC/WS2 Nanocomposite Coatings,” Surface Coatings and Technology, Vol. 188-189, p. 605-611 (2004).
19. M. Bouville, J. Mirecki-Millunchick, M.L. Falk, “Pit nucleation in the presence of 3D islands during heteroepitaxial growth,” Physical Review B, Vol. 70, Art. No. 235312, pp. 1-9 (2004).
18. M.L. Falk, J.S. Langer, L. Pechenik, “Thermal Effects in the Shear-Transformation Zone Theory of Amorphous Plasticity: Comparisons to Metallic Glass Data,” Physical Review E, Vol. 70, Art. No. 011507, pp. 1-11 (2004).
17. F. Albano, N. Lacevic, M.L. Falk, S.C. Glotzer, "Relating Metallic Glass Properties to Liquid Structure," Materials Science and Engineering A, Vol. 375-377C, pp. 671-674 (2004).
16. D.A. Rigney, X.Y. Fu, J.E. Hammerberg, B.L. Holian, M.L. Falk, “Examples of Structural Evolution During Sliding and Shear of Ductile Materials,” Scripta Materialia, Vol. 49, pp. 977-983 (2003).
15. A. Riposan, G.K.M. Martin, M. Bouville, M.L. Falk, J. Mirecki Millunchick, “The effect of island density on pit nucleation in In0.27Ga0.73As / GaAs films,” Surface Science, Vol. 525, pp. 222-228 (2003).
14. X. Fu, M.L. Falk and D.A. Rigney, "Sliding and Deformation of Metallic Glass: Experiments and MD Simulations," Symposium on Advances in Metallic Glasses, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Vol. 317, pp. 206-214 (2003).
13. M.L. Falk, A. Needleman, J.R. Rice, "A critical evaluation of cohesive zone models of dynamic fracture," Journal de Physique IV 11 , pp. Pr5 43-52 (2001).
12. X. Fu, T. Kasai, M.L. Falk and D.A. Rigney, "Sliding behavior of metallic glasses part I: experiments," Wear, Vol. 250/251, pp. 409-419 (2001).
11. X. Fu, M.L. Falk and D.A. Rigney, "Sliding behavior of metallic glasses part II: computer simulations," Wear, Vol. 250/251, pp. 420-430 (2001).
10. M.L. Falk and J.S. Langer, "From Simulation to Theory in the Physics of Deformation and Fracture," Materials Research Society Bulletin, Vol. 25, p.40-45 May 2000.
9. M.L. Falk, "Molecular-Dynamics Simulation of Brittle and Ductile Fracture in Amorphous Solids," Physical Review B, Vol. 60, p.7062-7070 (1999).
8. M.L. Falk and J.S. Langer, "Dynamics of Viscoplastic Deformation Amorphous Solids," Physical Review E, Vol. 57, p.7192-7205 (1998).
7. M.J. Stevens, M.L. Falk and M.O. Robbins, "Interactions Between Charged Spherical Macroions," Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 104, p. 5209-5219 (1996).
6. S.J. Lee, M.J. Park, G. Ihm, M.L. Falk, S.K. Noh, T.W. Kim and B. D. Choe, "Electronic Structure of the Triangular Quantum Well in a Tilted Magnetic Field,'' Physica B, Vol. 184, p. 318-322 (1993).
5. G. Ihm, M.L. Falk and S.K. Noh, "Symmetry Dependent Localization in a Finite Superlattice," Physical Review B, Vol. 46, p. 9564-9568 (1992).
4. G. Ihm, M.L. Falk, S.K. Noh, S.J. Lee and T.W. Kim, "Investigations of Localization in an Infinite Superlattice," Superlattices and Microstructures, Vol. 12, p. 159-161 (1992).
3. G. Ihm, M.L. Falk, S.K. Noh, J.I. Lee and S.J. Lee, "Oscillating Magnetization of Quantum Wells and Wires in Tilted Magnetic Fields," Physical Review B, Vol. 46, p. 15530-15533 (1992).
2. G. Ihm, M.L. Falk, S.K. Noh, S.J. Lee and T.W. Kim, "Quantum Wire in a Longitudinal Magnetic Field: Effect of Quantum Confinement on Magnetization," Physical Review B, Vol. 46, p. 15270-15273 (1992).
1. G. Ihm, S.K. Noh, M.L. Falk and K.Y. Lim, "Interface Localized States in Coupled Superlattices," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 72, p. 5325-5328 (1992).

Awards

Chaire Joliot, École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI), Paris, FRANCE, 2011, 2014
Diversity Recognition Award, Johns Hopkins Institutions Diversity Leadership Council, 2011
NOGLSTP, Educator Award, 2008
Jon R. and Beverly Holt Award for Excellence in Teaching, UM, 2005
1938E (Highest Award for Asst. Prof.), College of Engineering, UM, 2005
Outstanding Student Group Advisor Award, Epeians Engineering Leadership Society, UM, 2005
Founding Member, UM Engineering Teaching Academy, 2004
Poster Award Winner, Materials Research Society, Fall Meeting, 2002
New Century Scholar, NSF Faculty Development Program, 2002
Best Classroom Climate Award, UM Society of Women Engineers, 2002
NSF CAREER Award, 2002
Am. Phys. Soc. Nicholas Metropolis Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Computational Physics, 2000
UCSB Graduation Ceremony Commencement Speaker, 1998
DOE Computational Sciences Graduate Fellowship, 1995-98
Luce Scholarship for travel to East Asia, 1991-1992.
Inducted Phi Beta Kappa, Johns Hopkins University, 1990.