Achievement

Lauren Willis was lead author on a paper, "Controlling Nanogap Quantum Dot Photoconductivity through Optoelectronic Trap Manipulation," published in Nano Letters. The work investigated nanogap devices with CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals in the gap region that can function as photodetectors with tunable photoconductivity. Willis and her colleagues discovered that the temperature dependence of photocurrent depended on the illumination history of the device. This allowed them to create a model that would explain previous discrepancies in the literature and lead to reproducible results. Their findings may lead to improvements in nanocrystal device applications, such as sensors or solar cells. IGERT alumnus Michael Fischbein, now a post-doc, as well as advisor Dr. Marija Drndic also contributed to this paper.