Shyam
Chauhan, graduate student
spring 2018 - spring 2020
Shyam worked with the MBE/STM system in Lab 151 and
explored the growth and properties of CrN and Fe/CrN
surfaces.
E-mail: sc941717@ohio.edu
Kelsey
Turner, undergraduate student
Summer 2018
Kelsey worked with
the AFM/ MFM system along with training to operate the
MBE/ SP-STM system. She also participated in a summer
science outreach program for junior high school
students.
Alexandra
Semposki, undergraduate student, graduated spring 2019
Summer 2017 thru
Summer 2018
Alexandra worked with the PLD system. She is also
designed a full-fledged PLD chamber capable of
multi-layer film growth at elevated or cryogenic
substrate temperatures. Her chamber also includes ports
for RHEED and a load-lock chamber, as well as the
possibility of adding a UHV STM system.

Yingqiao
Ma, Ph.D. 2018.
Yingqiao focused his
investigations on the study of MnGaN-2D, a
two-dimensional material made from Mn on the surface
of GaN. This novel structure turns out to be
ferromagnetic at room temperature. Yingqiao
investigated this material using spin-polarized STM
and discovered 2 sharp peaks in density of states,
which, according to first-principles theory should be
spin-polarized Mn peaks. Imaging the surface with
magnetic STM tips resulted in magnetic images and
revealed the domain structure of the surface. By
applying increasing magnetic fields on the sample
during imaging, Yingqiao mapped out the hysteresis
loop using the SP-STM images. Many additional studies
were also carried out for this material, including a
study of the strain dependent magnetism of the surface
as well as the robustness of the magnetism of the
MnGaN-2D structure. After graduation in December 2018,
Yingqiao returned to China for most of 2019. His next
move however is to become a postdoctoral researcher at
the University of Hamburg working with Professor Dr.
Roland Wiesendanger.
E-mail: ym788111@ohio.edu
Zakia
Alhashem
Zakia
Alhashem
, Ph.D. 2018.
Zakia made careful STM measurements of several
different structures during her PhD. work including
N-polar GaN(000 1
) surfaces, MnGa quantum size
effect (QSE) islands on N-polar GaN surfaces, and
Mn3N2 (010) surfaces. She determined a model
structure for the trench-line structure on N-polar
GaN which is based on sub-units of the c(6x12)
reconstruction, investigated in detail the MnGa QSE
islands, and found interesting new phenomena on the
Mn3N2 (010) surfaces. Zakia obtained very high
resolution images in her experiments. In addition,
she also developed procedures for operation of our
reflection high energy electron loss spectroscopy
(RHEELS) system. Graduating in summer 2018, Zakia
returned to Saudi Arabia with her family where she
begins her life as a new Assistant Professor at King
Faisal University.
Joseph
Perry Corbett
, Ph.D. 2018.
Perry investigated the properties of MnGa layers grown
on Mn3N2 (001) substrates and their interfaces,
finding exchange bias as well as perpendicular
magnetic anisotropy. He further studied the detailed
atomic structure of the MnGa (001) surfaces, finding 2
reconstructions on that surface. Using sp-stm, he
investigated the surface of Cr (001) finding evidence
for a 2 x
-reconstructed
surface as well as layer-wise antiferromagnetism with
at least 3 different in-plane anisotropies. Besides
this, he also developed a novel STM tip-etching
procedure and fabrication procedures for making
effusion cells.
Andrew
Foley
, Ph.D. 2017.
Andrew carried out a series of important experiments,
making use of our molecular beam
epitaxy/low-temperature, spin-polarized STM system. He
co-authored a publication in Nano Letters
on
the topic of native gallium adatoms on the GaN(000 1
)
c(6x12) surface reconstruction. He also carried out a
series of experiments aimed at the Ga-polar GaN
surface, but his main work concentrated on the study
of several phases of manganese nitride including the
epsilon, eta, and zeta phases. His studies of
epsilon-phase Mn4N have demonstrated its ferrimagnetic
properties and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy on
top of MgO(001). Andrew determined the key components
of the PMA in these Mn4N layers and ultra-thin films.
Khan Alam, Ph.D. 2016.
Khan carried out investigations of gallium nitride
surfaces, chromium nitride layers and surfaces, and
Fe/CrN bilayers and Fe islands on CrN surfaces. He has
a first author publication in Nano Letters
on
the topic of native gallium adatoms on GaN(000 1
)
c(6x12). He has several forth-coming articles on
topics related to the structural, electronic, and
magnetic properties of CrN and Fe/CrN bilayer systems.
Khan received his Ph.D. in December 2016 and began a
postdoctoral position at the University of Chicago and
Argonne National Laboratory.
Jack Bruno
Jack Bruno,
undergraduate student, graduated
Summer 2016
Jack took over the pulsed laser deposition system
project at the point where Yonry left off. With shop
help, he added the necessary gases and gas lines and was
able to test fire the laser. He also aligned the laser
with a target in the vacuum chamber, and he then pulse
laser deposited our first PLD films of Mn, Fe, Cr, and
Gd. Jack had the depositions quantified using Rutherford
backscattering, and he used that to determine the amount
of material deposited per laser pulse for the various
materials he studied.
Andrada-Oana Mandru
Andrada Mandru, Ph.D. 2016.
Prior to joining Prof. Smith’s group, Andrada
obtained her MS degree from University of
Louisiana at Lafayette, where she studied Fe-Ga-Ge
magnetostrictive alloys using resonant ultrasound
spectroscopy. Andrada’s Ph.D. studies involve a
combination of molecular beam epitaxy and scanning
tunneling microscopy, used to grow and investigate
mainly magnetic samples (like the different phases
of ferromagnetic manganese gallium and
antiferromagnetic manganese nitrides). These
materials are of high technological importance in
the fields of spintronics and magnetic recording,
when grown on a semiconductor (like gallium
nitride) and/or doped with various magnetic atoms
(like iron and chromium). After remaining in
Athens a few more months as a short term
postdoctoral scholar, Andrada took a new
postdoctoral position in Switzerland at EMPA -
Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science
and Technology, located in Dubendorf.
Summer 2015
Ben worked on developing a Halbach array, together with
Perry Corbett, in order to create a strong permanent
magnetic field for application to measurements to be
performed on magnetic thin films grown by MBE in our
lab.
Summer 2014 and 2015
Yonry worked on our pulsed laser deposition system. He
designed and constructed a laser tube incorporating a
stepper motor which can raster the laser beam across a
target, and he developed a small vacuum chamber system
including a target on a rotating stepper motor, a sample
holder, a turbo pump, a gauge, and a viewport.
Dr. Pak, group
member from 2007 to 2015.
Jeongihm was a Research Assistant Professor. In summer
2015, she decided to make a life change and move to
Columbus, Ohio with her family, accepting a new job
with Chemical Abstracts Service in Columbus Ohio, a
division of the American Chemical Society.
Thomas (Tad) Riley worked in
the group for 2 summers (2013 and 2014), working with
the AFM/MFM system.
Hamad Al-Brithen
Hamad Al-Brithen, Ph.D. 2004.
Hamad and his family live in Saudia Arabia where
he is a Professor in the Physics and Astronomy
Department at King Saud University, and also
associated with the King Abdulah Institute for
Nanotechnology at the same University as well as
the National Center for Nano Technology at King
Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, all
in Riyadh.
Costel Constantin
Costel Constantin, Ph.D. 2005.
Costel is an Ass ociate
Professor of Physics at James Madison University in
Harrisonburg, VA, where he lives with his wife Anca
(also an Ass ociate
Professor at JMU, in Astrophysics) and daughter
Mia. Costel focus es
his research interests on understanding the
thermal, electrical, and structural properties of
surface-en gineered
complex materials.
Muhammad Haider
Muhammad
Baseer Haider,
Ph.D.
2005.
Muhammad lives
with his wife
and their 2
children in
Dhahran,
Saudia Arabia
where he is an
Assistant
Professor of
Physics at
King Fahd
University of
Petroleum and
Minerals
(KFUPM). Prior
to his
appointment at
KFUPM in 2009,
he worked as a
postdoctoral
fellow under a
joint
appointment of
the University
of Alberta and
the National
Institute for
Nanotechnology,
Edmonton,
Canada.
Rong Yang
Rong Yang, Ph.D. 2006.
Rong lives in Beijing with her husband Wei and son
Lingyu and is a full professor at the National
Center for Nanoscience & Technology, China. She
is working on the interdisciplinary research linking
materials, physics, chemistry and biology. Her
research includes preparation, characterization and
biomedical applications of semiconductor
nanomaterials. She has published more than 40 papers
in academic journals such as Phys. Rev. B, Phys.
Rev. Lett., Appl. Phys. Lett., ACS Nano, and ACS
Appl. Mat. Interface.
Haiqiang Yang
Postdoc ( '
00- '
02 )
Erdong Lu
P
ostdoc ('04-'07)
Yinghao Liu
P
ostdoc
('08-'10)
Wenzhi
Lin,
Ph.D. 2011.
Wenzhi and his family live in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Wenzhi is presently a postdoctoral research associate
at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His research
interest is focused on using scanning tunneling
microscopy and spectroscopy to explore photophysics of
semiconductor nanocrystals with an emphasis on
applications in solar energy conversion and
light-emitting devices.
Kangkang
Wang, Ph.D. 2011.
Kangkang currently lives in the San Francisco bay area
and works at Seagate Technology. At Seagate, Kangkang
is working towards extending the magnetic recording
technology into the future, by focusing on the
magnetic characterization of media and studying the
recording physics.
Abhijit
Vijay Chinchore, PhD 2011.
Abhijit works in Intel as Logic Technology
Development Engineer. Intel's 'Product Technology
Development' center is located in Hillsboro, Oregon,
this is where all the research and the initial
development for the next generation chips takes
place. It is here that Engineers test their
knowledge and abilities to challenge the physical
limits to attain the next rung in the Moore's
law ladder. Oregon offers an incredible platform for
outdoors enthusiasts like Abhijit. The
Cascade's offer beautiful scenic views all
throughout the year. They serve as skiing grounds in
winter and hiking trails in the summer. The
coastline is equally beautiful, the scenic highway
that runs alongside the pacific coastline offers
heavenly views.
Tianjiao
Chen, B.S. Physics & B.E. Mechanical
Engineering, 2011. Tianjiao went on to obtain
her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, graduating from
MIT in 2013. She has a patent for a rotary-bed
reactor design that applies the chemical looping
combustion technology. She currently lives in
Wilton, CT and is a design engineer working for
ASML, a major provider of lithography systems for
the semiconductor industry.
Daniel
Bergman, Bachelors of Applied Physics 2011.
After graduating from Ohio University Daniel
went to the University of Toledo and acquired a
Masters of Science Professional of Photovoltaics
degree in 2013. He currently lives in Toledo
with his fiance and works at First Solar in
their Quality and Reliability department testing
the long term reliability of their thin film
solar module.
B.S.
Physics, May '13
Ohio
State University Graduate School, Sep. '13
Former Mechanical System Technician, Jan.
'12