Grant Dixon
Department: Chemistry Faculty Advisor: Brandi Cossairt My name is Grant Dixon and I am a third year chemistry graduate student working in the lab of Dr. Brandi Cossairt. My research utilizes synthetic chemistry to study the photophysical behavior of colloidal nanocrystals as a function of chemical transformations on surfaces and across interfaces. Colloidal nanocrystals are of interest for next-generation, high-efficiency lighting technologies due to their size-dependent and surface-sensitive optical properties. Realizing these technologies at scale requires precise, deterministic synthetic developments that afford desired photophysical outcomes, which are historically lacking. I am approaching this problem through the synthesis of atomically-precise nanocrystal molecules with rigid ligand networks to resolve the influence of ligand dynamics and diffusion...
Connor Dalton
My research is broadly focused on synthetic methods of introducing porosity to semiconducting or magnetically ordered materials. More specifically I focus on the incorporation of silsesquioxane 'pillars' between layers of two-dimensional perovskites. Introducing porosity into perovskites increases surface area for applications in energy storage and catalysis and allows for post-synthetic modification through intercalation of small molecules. Advisor: Doug Reed — Chemistry...
Spencer Cira
Department: Chemical Engineering Faculty Advisor: Hugh Hillhouse I am a 3rd-year Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering at the UW where I work under Professor Hugh W. Hillhouse. My research focuses on understanding the light-stability of commercially relevant perovskite semiconductors for application in next generation, low cost photovoltaics. I aim to elucidate fundamental stability weaknesses in these materials and pioneer methods for increasing perovskite solar cell longevity. Outside of the lab, I enjoy spending time in the mountains trail running and skiing. ...
Yeu (Helen) Chen
Department: Physics Faculty Advisor: Gerald Seidler I am a third-year graduate student in the physics PhD program, currently working in Dr. Gerald Seidler's group. Our team specializes in x-ray spectroscopy for the study of material properties, and I have been actively involved in designing and building advanced instruments for this purpose. My specific research focus centers on the characterization of battery electrolytes using x-ray spectroscopy. I am passionate about contributing to advancements in clean energy research and am thrilled to be a part of the CEI community. I look forward to expanding my expertise and exploring new avenues within the field of clean energy research....
Jack Barlow
Department: Physics Faculty Advisor: Xiaodong Xu I am a third year physics graduate student working with Prof. Xiaodong Xu studying low-dimensional optoelectronic systems. My research is focused on understanding the properties of 2-dimensional topologically non-trivial condensed matter systems from optical and transport probes, as well as designing and fabricating heterostructures with 2-d materials which may exhibit interesting topological physics....
Vicente Arroyos
Department: Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Advisor: Vikram Iyer I am a Ph.D. student in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington (UW) where I work with Vikram Iyer. I also do some work in the Autonomous Insect Robotics Lab run by Sawyer Fuller. Before I joined the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. My research interests include low-power electronics, small-scale robotics, computing for sustainability, and applications of machine learning. I am the cofounder of A Vision for Electronic Literacy & Access (AVELA). K-12 STEM outreach is one of my passions, and I actively pursue efforts to widen STEM interest of...
Jiayi Zhu
My research is mainly on studying valley polarization controlling in different transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) heterostructures and exploring TMD device structures with higher efficiency. Valley pseudospin is an analogy to spin, giving rise to a new quantum index for people’s manipulation and it has potential application in quantum computing in the future. 2D TMD is the most promising candidate material for useful valleytronic application from its strong excitonic effect and spin-valley locking properties. In TMD heterostructure, the strongly unbalanced valley polarization can be generated with circularly polarized light of minimal power. For example, in WSe2/MoSe2, people can use as low as a few nanowatt...
Zachery Wylie
My research focuses on the solution-based synthesis and characterization of colloidal nanostructures for applications in energy storage. I work specifically with colloidal metal chalcogenides developing synthesis methods to control their composition, morphology, crystal structure, and electrochemical performance. Using highly reactive sulfur precursors, these chemical systems allow me to explore scalable, high-throughput methods that are necessary for producing electrodes in future cationic energy storage systems. Advisor: Vince Holmberg - Chemical Engineering...
Chun-Chih Tseng
Introducing the magnetic and spin-orbit coupling into graphene in proximity to dissimilar crystals has been extensively studied to realize exotic emergent physics. They include the dissipationless edge transport in quantum anomalous Hall effect and the efficient spin accumulation due to exchange splitting of Dirac cone in graphene. My research will focus on the investigation of these proximity effects in graphene on van der Waal magnets and topological insulators by the transport characterization. This study will help to gain the better understanding in engineering graphene properties and might benefit the low energy consumption application in the future Advisor: Matthew Yankowitz - Physics...
Rachel Tenney
I am studying perovskite-type chromium compounds that show intrinsic two-dimensional magnetism and exhibit unique absorption properties for applications including magnetic storage, spintronics, quantum computing, and magnetic switching. My project involves the synthesis of the hybrid organic/inorganic compounds, post-synthetic modification of these compounds through anion exchange, optical measurements that focus on variable-temperature absorption, and exfoliation with the goal of building novel heterostructures. Advisor: Daniel Gamelin - Chemistry...
Dan Sturm
My research focuses on mitigating the rapidly growing energy cost of artificial intelligence computation by developing a new ultra-low power compute approach using photonic integrated circuits (PICs). PICs - microchips that let light flow instead of electricity - have become increasingly popular since light can carry higher data bandwidths while consuming far less power. As a result, they offer a promising path towards powerful but energy-efficient AI accelerators. We minimize energy consumption by using programmable phase change material that can store data on-chip at zero energy, and organize PCM-based compute cells in a specialized architecture (systolic array) for efficient data reuse. In the past...
Thom Snoeren
It is predicted that by 2030 more than 20% of the global electricity demand will come from computing, urging the transition to next-generation, energy-efficient quantum computing technologies. This will require development of novel materials with enhanced magnetic and electrical control. The ferromagnetic 2D-layered Van der Waals material CrI3 is one of the most promising materials for spintronics and can readily be integrated into layered circuits. However, investigations on the optical properties of CrI3 are severely lacking. My research will focus both on incorporating carefully designed atomic defects such as lanthanides, as well as characterizing and iteratively optimizing the system using optical spectroscopy techniques. The goal is...