Mentor Areas
Our group studies the thermodynamics and optical properties of materials with nanostructures. We are intersted to understand the fundamental physics of how nanoscale size and interface interactions can be used to make novel materials with unique and unknown thermal and optical properties.
Description:
Stable Glasses (SGs) are highly dense and low energy glasses with a wide variety of applications from thin film coatings to being an active component of OLED screens. Our group, in collaboration with the Walsh’s group (Chemistry), synthesizes custom designed glass-making molecules and makes SGs by Physical Vapor Deposition. We investigate how changing the structure of the glass-making molecule or going into the ultra-thin region affects the dynamics and packing of these glasses. It is a novel and exciting area of research that allows us to study the fundamental physics of glasses and has potential applications.
The suitable candidate for this project will get the opportunity to make nanometers thick stable glasses using an ultra-high vacuum chamber, characterize these glasses with different techniques such as Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Atomic Force Imaging, X-Ray Imaging, and Solvent Vapor Annealing to characterize the properties of those thin films.
Preferred Qualifications
Students interested in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, or chemical engineering are welcome to apply. Our group is interdeciplinary and welcomes students from various backgrounds. We will train you in the required skills.
Students from under-represented minority, LGBTQ, and FGLI groups as well as studnets with disabilities are welcome in our group.
Details:
Preferred Student Year
First-year, Second-Year
Project Academic Year
2023–2024
Volunteer
Yes
Paid
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.