Bowling Green State University

At Bowling Green State University, I worked in the Zamkov Lab for Dr. Mikhail Zamkov (find it here). There the main focus of the research was on quantum dots, semiconductor nanostructures with properties between that of bulk materials and discrete atoms. By means of colloidal synthesis, we prepared a variety of materials and, using a variety of methods, probed their electronic, chemical, and optical properties.

 

 

My work specifically focused on the fabrication of the of the quantum dots, generally for photovoltaic and photodetection applications. By varying the size and composition of the nanostructures, as well as other factors, we were able to fine tune emission, conduction, and absorption properties.

 

My Master’s Thesis “Synthesis of Nanoscale Semiconductor Heterostructures for Photovoltaic Applications” can be found here.

---

NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio

During my undergraduate career, I had the opportunity to participate in the Lewis’ Educational and Research Collaborative Internship Project (LERCIP) for their 10 week program. The first was in the summer of 2007, after which I was asked to return in the summer of 2008. Both times I was there, I worked in the Communications Division of the Electronics and Optical Devices Branch under the mentorship of Dr. Jeffrey D. Wilson. The goal of the research was to model and reduce attenuation in Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers.

For this project I used two modelling programs, XFDTD® by Remcom® and COMSOL Multiphysics®, in conjunction with Mathematica. These were used to explore the effects of a variety of materials and processes such as beam steering through the use of amphoteric refraction / negative refractive indices, and enhancing the propagation of surface plasmon-polaritons with the use of grating as subwavelength holes in material surfaces.