Licata receives IFES Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting award

Olivia Licata receiving an award from IFES.

Dr. David Larson, president of the International Field Emission Society (IFES), presents Olivia Licata with an IFES Meeting Award during the Microscopy and Microanalysis conference.

by Nicole Capozziello

Published September 9, 2019 This content is archived.

Olivia Licata, a PhD student in the Department of Materials Design and Innovation, was one of two students to receive a meeting award from the International Field Emission Society (IFES).

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“Over the last two years, Olivia has worked diligently to learn and understand complex structural and chemical analysis using atom probe tomography.”
Baishakhi Mazumder, assistant professor
Department of Materials Design and Innovation

The IFES, founded in 1952, is an international scientific society that aims to promote high-field nanoscience and atom probe microscopy.

Licata was selected based on the promise of her current research, “Multiplicity vs. Composition Study to Understand the Field Evaporation of Polar AlxGa1-xN Heterostructures: A New Approach.” Her work is focused on understanding physical phenomena in wide band gap materials using atom probe tomography (APT). While the complexities and challenges that these compound semiconductors introduce into atom probe analysis are well known in the community, not a lot of effort has been put in to understanding them in depth. Licata’s work will help gain insight on the APT analysis of wide band gap materials, in turn improving the optimization of design and fabrication of device structures commonly used in power electronics.

“Over the last two years, Olivia has worked diligently to learn and understand complex structural and chemical analysis using atom probe tomography,” said Baishakhi Mazumder, an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Design and Innovation and Licata’s advisor. “As part of her PhD research, she has developed a unique approach to understand field evaporation of compound semiconductors by locating the position of atoms and molecules on the detector, which has the potential to broadly impact the APT community.”

The $1,000 award helped cover travel and registration expenses for the 2019 Microscopy and Microanalysis conference, which was held in Portland, Oregon from August 4-8, 2019.