In September, the greatest minds working in the field of ammonothermal growth of single crystals came together at UCSB for the conclusion of a two-session international workshop.  The first session was held in Germany, at Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nüremburg (FAU), towards the beginning of the summer, and covered fundamentals of crystal growth and in-situ... read more »

From the UCSB Current article "Next-Generation Thermoelectrics":  Imagine charging your cellphone anywhere without having to plug in. Or barely breaking a sweat outside in the middle of summer. How about using a high-performance personal computer that cools its own components? These ideas, and many like them, may be the realities of the not-so-distant future, thanks to UC... read more »

Fromt the UCSB Current article, An Unexpected Finding:  In the pursuit of a new class of photovoltaic materials, researchers at UC Santa Barbara happened upon an entirely different discovery that addresses a centuries-old mystery of chemistry: Why does an iodine solution turn blue-black when starch is added to the mix? The exact structural-chemical mechanism that... read more »

From the UCSB Current:  "Using state-of-the-art theoretical methods, UCSB researchers have identified a specific type of defect in the atomic structure of a light-emitting diode (LED) that results in less efficient performance. The characterization of these point defects could result in the fabrication of even more efficient, longer lasting LED lighting. “Techniques are... read more »

Alstria office REIT-AG, one of Germany’s largest listed commercial real estate companies, has made a gift to UCSB to support research in organic solar cells.  John van Oost, former Deputy Chairman of Alstria and now Managing Partner and co-founder at Fluxus Ventures, recognized that organic solar cells have potential in the area of building integrated solar and initiated... read more »

In June, Professor Christopher Palmstrøm was chosen as a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow (NSSEFF), one of only seven distinguished faculty scientists and engineers, by the Department of Defense (DoD). Significant research support is granted to each fellow and Prof. Palmstrøm will use the grant to study a class of functional materials known as... read more »

In the world of performance materials, we can be pretty demanding. We want things to be strong but light, flexible but resilient, high quality but easily manufactured and sustainable. UC Santa Barbara mechanical engineer and materials scientist Jonathan Berger has developed a material that can fulfill all those ideals — a solid foam that he describes as “the most... read more »