People
Principle Investigator
Brian A. Collins, Associate Professor
Email: brian.collins@wsu.edu
Phone: (509) 335-4671
Office: Webster Physical Science 523
Ph.D. and M.S. in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A. in Physics from Gustavus Adolphus College
Graduate Students
Devin Grabner
Email: devin.grabner@wsu.edu
Office: Webster Physical Sciences 525
B.S. in Physics & Chemistry from Walla Walla University
M.S. in Physics from Washington State University
Development of a robust in-situ/in-operando nanoprobe sensitive to molecular identity, allowing for characterization of both structure and dynamical interactions of polymeric micelles and other nanostructures in liquid environments.
Acacia Patterson
Email: acacia.patterson@wsu.edu
Office: Webster Physical Science 529
B.S. in Physics from Oregon State University
Investigating the morphological mechanism for the increased efficiency of ternary organic photovoltaics.
Harlan Heilman
Email: harlan.heilman@wsu.edu
Office: Webster Physical Science 521
B.S. in Physics from Northern Arizona University
Investigating DFT models to simulate structural, optical and electrical properties of organic molecules.
Tanner Melody
Email: tanner.melody@wsu.edu
Office: Webster Physical Science 529
B.S. Physics from San José State University
X-ray characterization of nanostructures and morphology of ternary organic photovoltaic devices.
Undergraduate Students
Elijah Allen
Chris Lum
Chandler Ketelsen
Post-Doctoral Alumni
- Terry McAfee Ph.D.
Post-Doc Work: Instrumentation Development for liquid in-situ/in-operando structural measurements of organic materials using Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering
NOW: Senior Scientific Engineering Associate, APXPS and Chemical Sciences, Photon Science Operations at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) - Prabodh Dhakal Ph.D.
Post-Doc Work: Developing structure-property relationships in organic solar cell active layers by combining advanced resonant X-ray nanoprobes with optoelectronic characterization on the exact same devices
Graduate Alumni
- Obaid Alqahtani Ph.D. (2023)
Thesis: “Structure-Property Correlations in Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells Across Material Systems via Synchrotron X-ray Techniques”
NOW: Professor of Physics at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University - Victor Murcia Ph.D. (2022)
Thesis: “Development of tensor-based building block models with density functional theory calculations and clustering algorithms for a quantitative description of molecular orientation using near edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy of small molecule and polymeric thin films”
NOW: Senior Management and Program Analyst at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - Fred Woodall M.S. (2022)
Thesis: “Characterization and Optimization of Zinc Phthylocyanine Thin Films in Organic Solar Cells”
NOW: Process Development Engineer at Corning Inc. - Awwad Alotaibi Ph.D. (2022)
Thesis: “Accurate Measurement of Charge Generation at Interfaces of Organic Solar Cell Devices Printed from Non-Halogenated Solvents” - Tamanna Khan Ph.D. (2022)
Thesis: “Controlling Ion Transport Pathways in Polymer Mixed Ion/Electron Conducting Devices”
NOW: Quality and Reliability Engineer at Intel - Devin Grabner M.S. (2022)
Thesis: “Label-Free Characterization of aPS50 Nanostructure, Chemistry, and Dynamics via In-Situ Resonant Soft X-Ray Scattering (RsoXS)”
NOW: Ph.D. Candidate at Washington State University Physics & Astronomy - Grant Thurman M.S. (2021)
Thesis: “Building DFT Model for Y11.”
NOW: Algorithm developer at Trace Soccer - Thomas Ferron Ph.D. (2019)
Thesis: “Spectral model of resonant soft X-ray scattering to resolve molecule-specific organization in 3D organic nanostructures.”
NOW: Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - David Buckley M.S. (2017)
Thesis: “Computational Modeling to Determine Molecular Orientation at Buried Interfaces in Polymer Thin Films”
NOW: Physics Professor – Lab Specialist at Gonzaga University - Michael Pope M.S. (2017)
Thesis: “Using resonant X-ray scattering to determine how structure controls the charge generation process in PCPDTBT:PC70BM solar cells.”
NOW: Lead Model Validation Specialist at Discover Financial Services - Obaid Alqahtani, M.S. (2016)
Thesis: “Probing nanostructure of organic films and photovoltaics via synchrotron X-ray techniques.”
NOW: Ph.D. Candidate at Washington State University Materials Science and Engineering - Qun Lu, M.S. (2016)
Thesis: “Calibration and automation of AAA solar simulator and external quantum efficiency measurement of organic photovoltaic devices.”
Undergraduate Alumni
- Emma Speight B.S. (2023)
NOW: Applied Physics MS Program at the University of Oregon - Derrick Adams B.S. (2023)
NOW: Nuclear Engineer at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory - Hunter Gedicke B.S. (2022)
- Catherine Martin B.S. (2022)
NOW: Chemical Process Engineer with British Petroleum - Sierra Ray B.S. (2021)
- Cameron Bennett B.S. (2020)
- Jacob Hastings B.S. (2020)
NOW: Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Connecticut Physics - Kyle Norbert, B.S. (2020)
NOW: Military Officer for the United States Space Force - Zachary Croft, B.S. (2018)
NOW: DOE SULI Researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Michael Anderson, B.S. (2018)
NOW: Ph.D. Candidate at University of Arizona Materials Science and Engineering - Keith Hillaire, B.S. (2017)
NOW: Ph.D. Candidate at North Carolina State University Physics Department - Matthew Waldrip, B.S. (2017)
NOW: Ph.D. Candidate: Wake Forest University Physics Department - Eric Beier, B.S. (2015)
NOW: US Navy