Kelsey Darrah with Pino Strangi
Random Lasing in Liquid Crystals Doped with Dyes and Plasmonic Nanoparticles
Laser light is generated by merging two important physical mechanisms, amplification and optical feedback. Amplification is mainly due to gain materials, whereas the optical feedback is obtained through an optical cavity that allows for mode...
Condensed Matter Experiment
Yang Han with Xuan Gao
Fabrication and Electrical Characterization of Molybdenum Trioxide Thin Films
Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials have been widely studied in recent decades. Among 2D vdW materials, transition metal oxides with 2D vdW structure have drawn the most attention because of their potential in electronic applications....
George Heidbreder with Kenneth Singer
Aggregation Characteristics of Conjugated Sophorolipid-(Zn)porphyrin Polymers
Bio-based, self-organizing molecules are of considerable interest for optoelectronic device applications due to their functionality and ability to construct sophisticated microstructures with similar motifs to those found in nature. Recently, the Singer group has discovered that conjugated sophorolipid-(Zn)porphyrin molecules self-assemble...
Kevin Kwock with Kathleen Kash and Gary Chottiner
Deposition and characterization of ZnSnSb2 for phase transition studies
ZnSnSb2 (zinc tin antimonide) is predicted to have interesting crystal structures, phase transitions, and thermoelectric properties that have not yet been carefully confirmed by experiment. The objective of this study is to produce, characterize...
Bradley C. Odhner with Philip Feng
Black Phosphorus Field Effect Transistors: Device Physics and Performance
We are nearing the end of Moore's law. Silicon based transistors, the amazing technology that led to the huge growth of Silicon Valley, are rapidly approaching a point where they will not be able
to progress...
Derek Tang with Xuan Gao
Growth of Indium MonoSelenide for 2D Semiconductor Devices
Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials with structures similar to graphene and graphite have emerged as a major research area in materials and condensed matter physics research. While an abundance of recent efforts were spent on transition...
Trey Wager with Roger French
Investigating the Durability and Reliability of PERC Solar Cells with Accelerated Weathering
Abstract - PERC (passivated emitter rear cell) monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic cells have higher efficiency than Al-BSF (aluminum back surface field) silicon photovoltaic cells, but these new PERC cell designs do not have well established...
Hanyu (Alice) Zhang with Jennifer Carter
Analyzing the Internal Structure of Bulk Metallic Glasses through X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) Spectroscopy
This project is aimed at using computational tools to see if current theory predicts the changes in XAFS spectra seen in experimental data. The objective of this project is to analyze...
Ru-Ching Chen with Yasuhiro Kamotani (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)
Characterization of Gas-Liquid Interfaces in Passive Cyclonic Separators
Two-phase flows and their separation is an important research topic as many spacecraft require such functionality to remain operational. These systems are not required on earth due to the existence of buoyancy. Cyclonic...
Caroline Novak with Kenneth Singer
Photorefractive properties of liquid crystal-filled bacterial cellulose mats
The photorefractive effect is a phenomenon associated with nonlinear optical materials in which the refractive index of the material varies with the application of light. One demonstration of this effect is dynamic holography. Energy transfer between diffracted beams...