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Paper on Co-Mn Spinel Films Published in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter

Miles’ paper on the electronic and structural properties of epitaxial Co1+xMn2-xO4 spinel thin films is now out in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. In this paper we examine the role of the Jahn-Teller distortion in stabilizing the electronic structure of the material as well as Co and Mn ionic coordination and valence. We show…Continue Reading Paper on Co-Mn Spinel Films Published in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter

Invited Review Article on In Situ XPS Published in Journal of Materials Research

Our summer group writing project reviewing the integration of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with oxide thin film synthesis is out in the Journal of Materials Research! This invited review for the Early Career Scholars issue focuses on ways to improve film growth using XPS, accurately interpret XPS data, and design experiments to probe charge transfer…Continue Reading Invited Review Article on In Situ XPS Published in Journal of Materials Research

FINO Lab and Auburn Collaborators Win NSF MRI Grant for New X-ray Diffractometer

Our group will soon have access to a state-of-the-art Rigaku SmartLab X-ray Diffractometer thanks to a new National Science Foundation grant through the Major Research Instrumentation program. Dr. Comes, Prof. Byron Farnum in Chemistry (a FINO Lab collaborator on our NSF project), and Profs. Majid Beidaghi, Peng Li, Tae-Sik Oh, and Masoud Mahjouri-Samani in the…Continue Reading FINO Lab and Auburn Collaborators Win NSF MRI Grant for New X-ray Diffractometer

Paper on Machine Learning of In Situ RHEED Published in Physical Review Materials

Our first lead author paper has been published in Physical Review Materials! Dr. Sydney Provence led this work on k-means clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) of films grown in our lab and in Prof. Bharat Jalan’s lab at the University of Minnesota. Using these big-data analysis approaches, we examined how the film surface evolves…Continue Reading Paper on Machine Learning of In Situ RHEED Published in Physical Review Materials

Prof. Comes Presents Invited Talk at 4th Fusion Oxide Thin Films Conference

Dr. Comes spent three great days in Lisbon, Portugal at the Fusion Oxide Thin Films Conference where he presented an invited talk on our group’s work studying the surfaces of SrTiO3 films by hybrid MBE using our in vacuo XPS. Ph.D. student Suresh Thapa is leading the work, along with contributions from Rajendra Paudel and…Continue Reading Prof. Comes Presents Invited Talk at 4th Fusion Oxide Thin Films Conference

Paper on V1-xNbxO2 Published in PRB

Dr. Comes’ collaborative paper with Stony Brook University and the University of Virginia focusing on V1-xNbxO2 thin films has been published in Physical Review B. In this paper we look at the effect of alloy composition in these materials and show that niobium ions donate an electron to vanadium, reducing conductivity in films near x…Continue Reading Paper on V1-xNbxO2 Published in PRB

Miles Blanchet Wins Alabama EPSCOR Graduate Reseach Fellowship

Congratulations go out to FINO Lab Ph.D. student Miles Blanchet, who won a fellowship through the Alabama EPSCOR Graduate Research Scholars Program! The fellowship will support his research on the synthesis and catalytic properties of oxide thin films and nanocomposites. We’re also happy to congratulate our collaborators on our NSF funded project, Alex Bredar and…Continue Reading Miles Blanchet Wins Alabama EPSCOR Graduate Reseach Fellowship

FINO Lab Heads to ACERS Electronic Materials and Applications 2019

The FINO Lab will be hitting the road for a trip to Orlando to present our ongoing work at the American Ceramics Society Electronic Materials and Applications conference! Look for Miles Blanchet’s talk on Mn-based spinels from our ongoing NSF project on oxide films for hybrid catalysts and Suresh Thapa’s presentation on surface studies of…Continue Reading FINO Lab Heads to ACERS Electronic Materials and Applications 2019