Sponsor: Tech Fund 1942 (Dawson)
My time at Michigan Tech was fueled by a passion for breaking down barriers, both in my community and in research. I was intrigued to join Women in Physics (WiP) because of its openness to everyone and its efforts to provide students with free access to the tools they need. The two most memorable experiences during my co-presidency were organizing the Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP) and the WiP Physics Fellowship. These events allowed us to create an environment that promotes camaraderie and support for everyone in the physics community.
As a physics researcher, I want to find new quantum materials that will help technology reach the atomic-scaling limit to minimize device size and power consumption. A specific example is low-dimensional half-metals, as they allow for perfect spin-dependent transport and provide access to the electron spin degree of freedom for spintronics applications. My dissertation is focused on using spin-polarized density functional theory to accurately model the electron-electron exchange interactions and predict novel low-dimensional quantum materials. This work led us to predict the first quasi-one-dimensional van der Waals half-metal, which is notable due to the van der Waals crystal’s weak interchain bonding that allows for clean exfoliation of the one-dimensional unit. This prediction provides an avenue to experimentally realize a half-metal nanowire.
I would like to thank Dr. Yongmei Jin and Dr. Ranjit Pati for their guidance and mentorship, and the physics department for its support. I would also like to thank the Elizabeth and Richard Henes Center for Quantum Phenomena for its financial support for the WiP Physics Fellowship. I would also like to thank everyone at Michigan Tech who helped make CU*iP a reality. Finally, I would like to thank the Graduate School and the Dean’s Advisory Panel for the Finishing Fellowship.