In situ heating & electrical biasing studies of electroceramics in the transmission electron microscope: optimizing materials processing routes and functional properties.

Studying the deformation behavior of nanostructured alloys with chemically and structurally modified interfaces to improve the stability and damage tolerance of grain boundaries.

Provide user training and support for SEM (FEI Magellan), SEM/FIB (FEI Quanta 3D Dual-Beam, Tescan Gaia), and TEM (JEOL 2100, 2800, and Grand-Arm).

Testing of automated electron beam aberration-correction routines (OptiSTEM) for on-the-spot optimization of high-resolution STEM imaging conditions for probe-corrected instruments.

Supporting the TEM lab in CAMCOR, University of Oregon. Main responsibilities include specimen analysis for academic and commercial users, and maintenance of transmission electron microscopes ( alignments, Cs- corrector tuning, calibration checks etc. )Tools: image-corrected FEI Titan FEG (S)TEM, and FEI Tecnai G2 Spirit TEM. Techniques: BF-,DF-, and HR-TEM, SAED, STEM -EDS, -EELS, EFTEM Training: hands-on training for new users and graduate students and development of training materials for TEM operation.Sample Preparation: TEM lamella preparation by FEI Helios Dual Beam FIB.

Growth and characterization of CVD graphene2010 • Involved in the building of a custom design chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system for growth of graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs).• Responsible for CVD system maintenance and repair, along with the development and optimization of CVD recipes for the growth of graphene. 2011-2012 • Used SEM and Raman spectroscopy to characterize graphene films, designed and prepared graphene samples to support collaborations. AFM to support CNT projects. • Assisted in two summer projects in the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility (CNF) making CNT field-effect transistor biosensors. 2012-2013 • Used TEM for graphene grain size analysis after receiving URISC funding to support training fees. • Remainder of undergraduate research spent developing a theoretical and operational understanding of TEM with the goal of obtaining a research role as a TEM microscopist.