I am a scientist at Caltech, where I research space propulsion and energy technologies. I work in the Atwater research group.

This webpage is really old, I mostly use it for hosting free software tools, but there's a chance I'll get around to updating it someday. For now, here's a picture of what I looked like in 2008, and a description of my graduate research, which concluded in 2010:

My research at Caltech focused on developing low-cost solar cells made from silicon microwires. I studied the growth of silicon microwire arrays, the formation of radial p-n junctions, and the fabrication of novel light-trapping microstructures. Over the years I enjoyed numerous opportunities to design and build new instrumentation for the lab, enabling us to characterize the material quality, optical absorption, and photovoltaic performance of these solar cells. I also became interested in numerical simulation techniques, and developed an optoelectronic model to simulate and optimize the behavior of silicon microwire solar cells. These efforts reflect the tremendous support of my advisor, Prof. Harry Atwater, as well as a close collaboration with Prof. Nathan Lewis, and the exceptional talent of my numerous colleagues in both research groups.

• The more-affordable photovoltaic solar cell
  Silicon microwire-array solar cells receive a 2010 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award.

  
  

• Photovoltaics: More solar cells for less
  Zia Zhu and Prof. Yi Cui (of Stanford University) discuss our study on the optical absorption of silicon wire arrays in a News and Views article in the March 2010 issue of Nature Materials. This work is also highlighted by MIT Technology Review.

  
  

• Photocathode materials: Array of sunshine
  Work on silicon microwire-array photocathodes is highlighted in the January 2010 issue of Nature Chemistry.

  
  

• Chemistry: The photon trap
  Nature News highlights the development of silicon microwire-arrays for solar fuel sources.

  
  

• Students go solar
  The Caltech Student Solar Initiative leads the installation of a 14 kW solar array on the rooftop of our laboratory, as highlighted by this article from Caltech's Engineering and Science magazine (Winter 2008).