Achievement

The relative freedom provided by the IGERT Traineeship has allowed Christopher Hawley to participate in a research internship at Structured Materials Inc. (SMI), a company with which Chris's advisor, Dr. Jonathan Spanier, routinely collaborates. Chris's research has been directed toward the continued optimization and refinement of device components in order to pave the way for future technologies on the nanoscale. His internship at SMI provides access to multiple growth reactors, two of which have been used for zinc oxide and gallium nitride film growths, and he has been converting these systems in order to grow nanowire samples. The structures Chris is investigating may lead to various technologies such as photodetectors, LEDs, and solar cells.