John Cenker
Two-dimensional van der Waals crystals hold great promise for future devices due to their atomically thin nature and the consequent unique emergent physics. Furthermore, their pristine crystal lattices should make them extraordinarily robust to external stresses such as strain. My research focuses on developing new ways to apply strain to 2D materials to drive phase transitions which can be harnessed for future device applications. For example, applying strain to atomically thin magnets to drive magnetic phase transitions. This research could enable energy-efficient, ultrathin memory bits which can be written purely by an applied voltage to the strain cell. Advisor: Xiaodong Xu - Physics...
Christian Pederson
Simulating novel materials with the desired range of properties for efficient solar energy collection, or storage is computationally intractable with classical computers. Quantum computers and simulators are the only known devices that can efficiently tackle these problems, yet are plagued by the experimental challenges of scaling up sensitive quantum systems. I will investigate an integrated photonics platform based on point defects in diamond. Significant challenges remain, but integrated devices have a clear path to scalability since they build upon existing semiconductor fabrication methods. Recent work demonstrated that a particular defect, the silicon-vacancy(SiV) center, could be created nanometers from the surface of diamond without compromising its...
Jiaqi Cai
One of the CEI missions is to develop next generation’s energy saving technologies. To date, the information processing is accompanied by inevitable energy dissipation in devices caused by impurity scattering. Very recently, a new phase of matter, named as magnetic topological insulator (MTI), emerged as a promising platform to develop dissipationless electronics, where carriers transmit along the edge of the devices without any energy loss. This dissipationless property is ensured by the topological nature which enables the edge conduction to be immune from bulk impurity scattering. What’s more, the interplay of magnetism and non-trivial topology in MTI makes the electronic state controllable, enabling the devices to...
Kyle Hwangbo
My research will focus on the investigation of the inherent properties and the tunability (by optical and electronic means) of a new intrinsic magnetic semiconductor, NiPS3. This material is the first example of semiconductor quantum well (QW) with intrinsic antiferromagnetic order. As the semiconductor QWs formed the foundation for our modern solid-state device technologies, we envision that these type of new materials with intrinsic magnetic order may lead to new energy efficient spintronic and optoelectronic devices, such as low energy consumption data storage and computing. These application potentials are well in-line with the mission of the Clean Energy Institute and may be an important...
Jordan Fonseca
Due to the explosive increase in the amount of information generated throughout our daily lives, one of the key challenges of our society will be storing and manipulating data with high energy efficiency. One promising approach to solving this grand energy consumption challenge is exploring new data storage and computing technologies based on ultra-thin antiferromagnetic materials. The promise of antiferromagnetism lies in the absence of net magnetization, which increases the achievable density of storage, while the large exchange interactions could enable operation speeds in the terahertz regime. Supported by the CEI award, I will apply a variety of optical techniques to probe the exotic...
Minhao He
I plan to study the multiple hot-carrier generation processes in twisted graphene system by engineering the van Hov singularities in its flat bands, which can be revolutionary for photovoltaic technologies. Advisor: Xiaodong Xu - Physics ...
Joshua Mutch
I plan to perform systematic studies of carrier lifetimes and diffusion lengths in hybrid organic perovskites by optoelectronic, magnetotransport, and thermodynamic measurements. Advisor: Jiun-Haw Chu - Physics ...
Xiayu Linpeng
My research interest is on the fundamental spin and optical properties of defects in direct band gap semiconductors. Advisor: Kai-Mei Fu - Physics and Electrical Engineering ...
Nathan Wilson
I will systematically explore heterostructures formed by stacking the atomically thin semiconductors WSe2 and MoSe2 by varying their architecture, for example, by inserting a thin dielectric to quench carrier recombination, thus increasing carrier collection efficiency. ...
Maria Viitaniemi
In order to better understand the nature of carrier localization and recombination in InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) used in blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) , we are developing a stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscope tailored to InGaN QWs. STED microscopy is widely used in biological systems to achieve far-field spatial resolution below the diffraction limit. ...
Joshua “Shua” Sanchez
I will investigate superconductivity in the compound LaAgSb2 by growing chemically substituted single crystals and characterizing their physical properties via electrical transport, thermodynamic and magnetic measurements. ...
Evan Jahrman
I would optimize and apply in-house x-ray spectroscopy, including CEI-XANES, to provide rapid feedback on cathode materials as part of a collaboration between industry, national lab (ANL) and the Seidler group at the UW. ...