Join us for Week 4 of the NanoExchange Summer Series. Each session brings together graduate researchers to share work-in-progress, explore new ideas, and engage in open discussion across disciplines.
This summer鈥檚 NanoExchange is chaired by IMS Graduate Students Jack Loken and Jojo Pearson.
Date: Thursday, July 9, 2026
Coffee and Snacks: 10:00 to 10:30 AM
NanoExchange Sessions: 10:30 to 11:30 AM
Location: 202 Light Hall
Grant Mayberry |Dangling-bond Conductive Nanowires in Irradiated Wide-bandgap Semiconductor听
Wide-bandgap semiconductors听exhibit听higher performance than silicon in power-electronics applications, but reliability issues听remain听open. In radiation environments,听as听in space or near nuclear reactors and particle accelerators, power devices undergo degradation and catastrophic burnout caused by single ion strikes. However, the atomic-level understanding听remains听open. Here we present results of DFT calculations by which we听identify听a mechanism for the observed leakage in five wide-bandgap semiconductors: c-BN,听SiC,听AlN,听GaN, and b-Ga2O3, after irradiation. We show that conditions created by the ion along its path and by the applied voltage enable the formation of anion-vacancy chains by cation vacancies, resulting in bundles that conduct in multiple directions. In degraded devices, these nanowires account for听observed听persistent increases in leakage current, mediated by free carriers in the dangling-bond nanowires. At听very high听voltages, explosive nanowire growth can cause burnout. The results enable us to rate the five materials for radiation听hardness听as c-BN>SiC>AlN>GaN>b-Ga2O3. This work,听together with听additional听considerations relating to device design, can听ultimately produce听predictive figures of merit for different applications.听
Madison Walker | Noninvasive Screening of Eosinophilic Esophagitis using Saliva and鈥疪aman Spectroscopy
Treatment monitoring for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a chronic inflammatory disease, requires multiple expensive and invasive endoscopies per year. Therefore, there is an urgent need for non-invasive, accessible diagnostic and treatment monitoring tools for EoE at the point of care. While most analytical chemistry techniques rely on the detection of a single analyte in blood or plasma, our efforts have led to the use of a saliva-based Raman spectroscopy method that captures multiple spectral features to inform the sample composition. Raman spectroscopy is an inelastic light scattering technique that creates a biochemical fingerprint used to听identify听functional groups, macromolecules, and detect specific analytes. Saliva听contains听Raman-active molecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, electrolytes, hormones, and other analytes, which are essential for interpreting health status and disease state.听
The goal of this project is to听identify听Raman spectral signatures associated with the different activity states of EoE compared to control groups using saliva and Raman spectroscopy. Unstimulated saliva samples (n = 55) from fasted pediatric patients were collected under approved IRB #151341. Differences in the processed Raman spectra were听observed听amongst the groups relating to protein (1688/1172 cm-1), polysaccharide (949/829 cm-1), and nucleic acid peaks (1319/1268 cm-1). These peaks correlate with previously published metabolomics studies that report a decrease in nucleotide molecules in the saliva from children with Active EoE. This work addresses听a critical听clinical health imperative: developing accessible, objective tools for disease screening in remote settings.听
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