Micro-X is a high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy sounding rocket mission that had its first flight in July 2018, becoming the first program to carry Transition-Edge Sensors (TES) and multiplexing Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) readout electronics into space, successfully collect data, and subsequently recover the instruments. While a rocket pointing failure...
Sparked by the isolation of graphene in 2004, the research community has developed a family of 2D materials with distinct functionalities, enabling rapid demonstrations of entirely 2D devices with applications in energy, electronics, sensors and medicine. The desire to capitalize on the fantastic properties of 2D materials motivates ongoing efforts...
The anode and cathode are main components in a battery system. In this dissertation, Group IV inter-metallics and LiMn2O4 are studied as anode and cathode materials for Li-ion batteries respectively. Preliminary investigation of a multi-valent cathode material for next generation batteries is also introduced.
Group IV inter-metallics electrochemically alloy with...
The promise of next-generation electronics, which combines features such as mechanical flexibility, optical transparency, and relatively low-cost, has stimulated tremendous research efforts during the past few years. As perhaps the most fundamental component of an electronic circuit, the design and optimization of the thin film transistor (TFT) is of great...
X-ray reflectivity (XRR) versatile technique that characterize the surface structures. However, due to the lack of phase information of X-ray data, the reconstruction of electron density profile (EDP) from XRR data is an ill-posed inverse problem that requires extra attention. In Chapter 1, several key concepts in XRR data analysis...