Achievement

Jon Gosnell, who recently defended his dissertation, performed interdisciplinary research with co-advisors Sandra Rosenthal, Chemistry and Sharon Weiss, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The project focused on using cadmium selenide nanocrystals as a white-light phosphor for light-emitting diodes. Jon was involved in all aspects of the project, from synthesizing the nanocrystals using colloidal chemistry to depositing thin films of nanocrystals and polymers for device fabrication. The main thrust of the research was to measure the optical properties of these white-light emitting, cadmium selenide nanocrystals, especially when encapsulated in a thin film of a clear material such as an epoxy, silicone, or polymer. The cross-disciplinary thesis topic combined materials research using chemistry and optics techniques with device fabrication and characterization.