My work is in the field of tip-enhanced near-field optical microscopy (TENOM), also known as tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). This technique focuses radiation in the UV-Vis-IR range to nanoscale spatial dimensions, much smaller than the diffraction limit of a conventional microscope, using plasmonic antennas. TENOM experiments have achieved spatial resolutions of 1-10 nm, and can reach high enough sensitivities for single molecule spectroscopy measurements. My research has included the design and validation of a custom-built TENOM instrument, and the use of Lumerical optical simulation FDTD software to investigate the physics of plasmonic nanostructures.
I grew up in Minnesota and received a dual degree in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Minnesota. During college, I did research in the field of renewable heterogeneous catalysis, worked as an usher at the Twins baseball stadium, and played in the drumline for basketball and volleyball games. I started at UCSB in 2013 and love being able to now play golf year-round.
Tools and Techniques: optical microscopy and spectroscopy, lasers, plasmonics, scanning probe microscopies including AFM/STM/TENOM, LABVIEW, optical simulations (Lumerical FDTD)