Bruce Bunker

Research Interests

Professor Bunker’s research interests lie in the use of x-rays and electrons for probing the structure of solids, liquids, surfaces, and interfaces. Specifically, his group is involved with using x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray scattering to study the structure of random semiconductor alloys, solid-solid and solid-liquid interfaces, two-dimensional phase transitions at surfaces and interfaces, and structure of liquids, and systems of environmental interest. His personal interests largely involve fundamental problems in condensed-matter physics, but there are often technologically or environmentally interesting applications as well.

This research largely requires the use of very intense x-rays available only at national synchrotron-radiation sources. He is the director of the MRCAT, an inter-institutional “collaborative access team” designing, building, and using beamlines at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. This “high-brightness” facility offers the capability of performing many new experiments previously difficult or impossible. The facility currently operates a high-brightness undulator beamline and a general-use bending-magnet beamline.