Advisor: Prof. Dr. Richard Kramer Campen

Responsibilities include:

• Construct and build the Ultra-High Vacuum (UHV) system which integrates Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED), Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES), Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy (TDS), (Time-Resolved) Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy, etc.
• Construct and setup the time-resolved sum frequency generation spectroscopy for UHV and ambient/electrochemical sample environments
• Study the ultrafast process happens at solid-gas/solid-liquid/liquid-gas interface

Advisor: Prof. Dr. R. J. Dwayne Miller

Accomplishments include:

• Coupled a desorption by impulsive vibrational excitation (DIVE) molecular source with a femtosecond electron gun to study the structural dynamics of large biomolecules
• Constructed and commissioned the gas-phase/solid-phase ultrafast electron gun
• Built the pump-probe femtosecond laser paths for the UED experiments
• Developed tools for electron diffraction experimental data analysis with Matlab and Python

Advisors: Prof. Dr. Jochen Küpper/Prof. Dr. Henry N. Chapman

Accomplishments include:

• Developed a laser-induced acoustic desorption (LIAD) source to bring large thermally labile and non-volatile biomolecules into gas-phase.
• Developed a gas-dynamic virtual nozzle aerosol spraying method to deposit uniform biomolecule layers on a long tantalum thin foil for the LIAD setup
• Coupled the biomolecule source with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS) and characterized the source with strong-field ionization (SFI) by Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser
• Studied the desorption mechanism and biomolecule ionization and dissociation process under strong laser field
• The developed tape-drive sample delivery setup was used by PETRA P11 beamtime for biomolecule coherent diffraction imaging experiments

Advisor: Prof. Dr. James R. Sites

Accomplishments include:

• Upgraded the Colorado State University (CSU) Light-Beam Induced Current (LBIC) system to characterize the uniformity of local photovoltaic performance of thin-film solar cells
• Investigated the efficiency loss mechanism of thin-film solar cells with carefully characterization from (temperature dependent, illumination dependent) IV, QE, CV, LBIC, etc.