Undergraduate Research Assistant
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Nick is a Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) undergraduate in the college of Engineering at Boise State University. Nick joined the Nanoscale Materials & Device Group in March of 2011. He previously worked on the Nanofabrication Team creating and characterizing electrical test structures (via electron beam lithography) for DNA templated optoelectronic structures and devices. Currently, his research is focused on determining how nanoparticle structure and arrangement affects surface plasmon properties of DNA templated noble metal nanoparticle plasmonic waveguides. As a result of this research, Nick developed a characterization procedure that effectively couples atomic force microscopy data with far field microscopy/spectroscopy data allowing for direct correlation of structural and optical properties of individual DNA waveguides. Nick will complete his B.S. in MSE in May of 2013 and intends to pursue graduate studies in MSE with an emphasis on emerging photovoltaic technologies such as organic and hybrid solar cells.
Instruments and Techniques
Equipment:
- Nanometrics 212 Thin Film Systems 7200-1453 REV1 nanospec
- Kyle R See custom built Physical Vapor Deposition Tool
- LEO 1430-VP Scanning Electron Microscope
- Veeco Dimension 3100 Atomic Force Microscope
- Bruker Dimension Icon Atomic Force Microscope
- Nikon Eclipse Ti – U Optical Microscope
- Princeton Instruments Acton SP2300 Spectrometer
- Princeton Instruments ProEM EMCCD Camera System
Techniques:
- Electron Beam Lithography
- Wafer processing
- Atomic Force Microscopy
- Sputter Deposition
- Dark Field Microscopy
- Dark Field Spectroscopy
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journal Publications
- William P. Klein, Charles N. Schmidt, Blake Rapp, Sadao Takabayashi, William B. Knowlton, Jeunghoon Lee, Bernard Yurke, William L. Hughes, Elton Graugnard, and Wan Kuang, Multiscaffold DNA Origami Nanoparticle Waveguides. (Nano Lett., 2013, 13 (8), pp. 3850 – 3856, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl401879r)
Conference Publications
None at this time.
Conference Presentations and Posters
- Synthesis of End thiolated DNA Origami Nanotubes Decorated with Gold Nanoparticles. Lejmarc Snowball, Donald L. Kellis, Craig Onodera, Heiu Bui, Jason Brotherton, Nick Schmidt, Chris Buu, Stephanie Barnes, Elton Graugnard, William L. Hughes, Bernard Yurke, Wan Kuang, Jeunghoon Lee, and William B. Knowlton, poster presentation at the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program poster session (Boise, Idaho, July 28, 2011).
- Blake Rapp**, Christopher Buu*, Lejmarc Snowball**, Jason Brotherton,
Nick Schmidt**, Amber Lay**, William B. Knowlton, Wan Kuang, William
L. Hughes, Bernard Yurke, Elton Graugnard, Progress Toward the
Synthesis and Electrical Characterization of Au-Functionalized DNA
Origami Nanotubes, poster presentation at the IEEE International
Integrated Reliability Workshop (Fallen Leaf Lake, CA; Oct. 16-20,
2011). - William Klein, Nick Schmidt, Sadao Takabayashi, Nathan Robinson, Bernard Yurke, William B. Knowlton, Jeunghoon Lee, Wan Kuang, Elton Graugnard. Towards Far-field Spectroscopy of Individual Surface Plasmon Waveguides Assembled on DNA Templates, poster presentation at Boise State University Undergraduate Research Conference (Boise, Idaho, April 16, 2012).
- William Klein, Charles Schmidt**, Blake Rapp, Sadao Takabayashi, William B. Knowlton, Elton Graugnard, Jeunghoon Lee, Bernard Yurke, William L. Hughes, Wan Kuang, DNA Origami Templated Self-Assembly for Nanophotonic Devices and Materials, presentation at the Foundations of Nanoscience conference (FNANO) (Snowbird, Utah; April 14 – 19, 2013)