Research

Yu Lab

For the upcoming semester, I will be joining the Yu lab as a research assistant on the single photon emission project. My role will be to help with device fabrication using a lithography process and follow-up testing. More details to come!

Zhou Lab

I was part of the Zhou lab between January to December of 2025 working on the water-splitting photocatalyst bismuth vanadate. BiVO4 is a 2.4 eV semiconductor that has shown promise in splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using only solar energy. My role involved growing large single crystals of BiVO4 using the floating zone technique, followed by characterization using PXRD, Laue back-reflection methods, and SEM-EDS. The goal was to produce high-quality crystals with specific surface orientations ({110} and {010}) that have been shown to yield higher photocatalytic efficiency on a nanoscale. Challenges included managing evaporation and instability during the growth process, as well as addressing oxygen deficiencies in the crystal structure.

image furnace The image furnace we used for growths
BiVO4 crystal A growing crystal
SEM machine SEM-EDS characterization

Publications / Posters

Teng, A., et al. "Growth of large single crystal BiVO4 as a highly efficient photocatalyst for water splitting". Poster presented at the 2025 UT Austin MRSEC Research Symposium, Austin, TX, December 2025.