Jason Nicholas
Michigan State University, MI·Materials Science
Materials behave differently when they are made as extremely thin films rather than as bulk solids: grain sizes shrink, and the film can hold large internal stresses. Work in this lab exploits that difference in two very different settings.
- Fields
Materials Science
Earth & Environmental Science
Engineering
- Topics
thin films
pulsed laser deposition
diamond anvil cell
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Test whether the previously observed shift in the wadsleyite-to-ringwoodite transformation can be reproduced in anhydrous Mg2SiO4 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition, using diamond anvil cells with synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy.
- Map the phase boundaries of water-free Mg2SiO4 thin films from 0.1 to 30 GPa and 300 to 2300 K, producing a high-pressure phase diagram for a thin-film mineral sample.
- Establish fabrication and testing protocols that distinguish whether small grain size or large deviatoric (shear) stress is responsible for shifted olivine-family phase boundaries relevant to deep-focus subduction zone earthquakes.
- Quantify how deliberately added platinum surface layers and electrical polarization change the oxygen surface exchange coefficient k(chem) of pulsed-laser-deposited praseodymium cerium oxide films at 400–600 °C.
- Determine the mechanisms behind these k(chem) changes by comparing a contact-free wafer curvature method with simultaneous electrical conductivity relaxation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
- Identify previously unrecognized sources of inadvertent precious-metal contamination in oxygen exchange measurements, linking k(chem) to film composition and structure via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy.
More about the research
One project asks whether thin-film samples can reveal why deep earthquakes happen hundreds of kilometers inside the Earth. The other asks how to measure, reliably, how fast an oxide material swaps oxygen with the surrounding air, a rate that limits the performance of fuel cells and other high-temperature energy devices. Both rely on films grown by pulsed laser deposition, a technique that uses a laser to blast material from a target onto a substrate, and on careful measurement of what those films do under heat, pressure, or electrical bias.
Why it matters
Deep-focus earthquakes between 475 and 660 km depth remain unexplained; measuring mineral transformations under realistic stress and grain-size conditions could sharpen models of deep-Earth structure and slab dynamics. On the energy side, trustworthy oxygen exchange measurements would let researchers compare candidate catalysts across laboratories, which matters for the efficiency of fuel cells, electrolyzers, oxygen generators, and catalytic converters used in clean energy, environmental protection, and life-support systems.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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University of Michigan, MI·Earth & Environmental Science
Synthesize Ruddlesden-Popper iridates (Srn+1IrnO3n+1) under high pressure and temperature, with chemical doping, to search for exotic magnetism, Mott insulating states and possible superconductivity, guided by Dynamic Mean Field Theory.
Sossina Haile
Northwestern University, IL·Materials Science
Build multilayer electrode structures in which ultra-thin, proton-permeable barrier layers stop active catalysts such as palladium and silver from reacting with the CsH2PO4 solid acid electrolyte.
George Amulele
Case Western Reserve University, OH·Earth & Environmental Science
Measure the electrical conductivity of pure potassium liebermannite and potassium–sodium mixtures across pressure and temperature, using impedance spectroscopy in a multi-anvil high-pressure device.
The school
Michigan State University: 28 labs on PI Pages, $932M a year on research, 555 research doctorates a year.
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