Four-Year College Faculty-Student Team Fellowships Program
In summer 2015, the following faculty/student teams joined the MRSEC group:
Professor Sharmin Sikich and students Shana Havenridge, Samantha Vogel, and Nick Youssef
Doane College, Crete, NE
worked with Axel Enders, Physics.
"We are investigating the use of office inkjet printers to create thick-films of organic substances, that will then be tested for ferroelectric properties. We are currently printing croconic acid, a known ferroelectric material in crystalline form, on various substrates such as gold, silicon, and titanium trisulfide. In addition to printing thick-films, we are also attempting to co-crystallize croconic acid and 3-hydroxyphenalenone."
Professor Pavel Lukashev and student Noah Hurley
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA
worked with Evgeny Tsymbal, Physics.
"Mn-based Heusler compounds have attracted significant attention because of their multifunctional properties including half-metallic high temperature ferri- and ferromagnetism, and shape memory effect. Some of the Mn-based alloys crystallize in a tetragonal structure with high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and high spin polarization at the Fermi level showing huge potential for the spin transfer torque based non-volatile memory and logic devices. We theoretically study structural and elastic properties of Mn2RuSn, using first-principles calculations, to explore cubic and tetragonal phases of this material, possible structural phase transitions, and elastic parameters, such as bulk modulus, and Poisson’s ratio. We also study the possible tuning of electronic and magnetic properties of Mn2RuSn with its elastic properties, aiming to shed light on its potential device applications."
Professor Lei Zhang and student Katie McDaniel
Winston-Salem State University, NC
worked with Jinsong Huang, Mech. & Mater. Eng.
"Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) thin films of In2O3, SnO2, ZnO, and their mixtures have been extensively used in optoelectronic applications such as transparent electrodes in solar photovoltaic devices. Amorphous indium–zinc oxide (IZO) thin films can be deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering from a In2O3–10 wt.% ZnO sintered ceramic target, and this project is to optimize the RF power and the thickness of film to reach the maximum conductivity and transparency in visible spectrum."
Professor Marlann Patterson and student Roy Lindsay
University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
worked with Shireen Adenwalla, Physics.
"My student and I are collaborating with Prof. Adenwalla and her graduate student Keith Foreman this summer. We're contributing to investigations of the interface between cobalt and an organic ferroelectric material called vinylidene fluoride (VDF) in two ways. In one method, we are creating transmission electron microscopy (TEM) samples of the interface. In the TEM work, we're also collaborating with Prof. Shield and his graduate student Mak Koten. The Co-VDF interface is challenging for TEM work due to the soft, organic properties of the VDF film. In a second investigation, we examine the Co-VDF interface with ferroelectric mapping and magneto-optical kerr effect (MOKE) measurements. The VDF material is of interest because it may someday be used to control the reading and writing of magnetic memory bits with electric fields, which would operate without as much heat loss and damage as is inherent with magnetic field control."