IDEALS Fellow, Omari Kirkland, Receives NSF CREST Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

Former IDEALS Fellow, Dr. Omari Kirkland is the recipient of an NSF CREST Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. He will work under the guidance of Professor Pawan Tyagi, director of the CREST Center for Nanoscale Research and Education (CNRE) at the University of the District of Columbia, in Washington DC. He will perform research on a new kind of device known as a magnetic tunnel junction molecular spin device, or MTJMSD, which employs single molecule tunneling junctions to transmit electrical current. These devices have unique applications as high performance solar cells as well as in quantum computing.

As Omari explains in his proposal: "The development of cheap, efficient, stable, and easy to produce photovoltaic devices that have the capability to absorb light outside of the optimal wavelength range of silicon solar cells is paramount. Light harvesting magnetic tunnel junction molecular spin devices (MTJMSDs) may provide a route toward the design of such a device."

Congratulations, Omari!