Publications

We have made a single-photon detector that relies on photoconductive gain in\na narrow electron channel in an AlGaAs/GaAs 2-dimensional electron gas. Given\nthat the electron channel is 1-dimensional, the photo-induced conductance has\nplateaus at multiples of the quantum conductance 2e$^{2}$/h. Super-imposed on\nthese broad conductance plateaus are many sharp, small, conductance steps\nassociated with single-photon absorption events that produce individual\nphoto-carriers. This type of photoconductive detector could measure a single\nphoton, while safely storing and protecting the spin degree of freedom of its\nphoto-carrier. This function is valuable for a quantum repeater that would\nallow very long distance teleportation of quantum information.\n

Learning strategic robot behavior -- like that required in pursuit-evasion interactions -- under real-world constraints is extremely challenging. It requires exploiting the dynamics of the interaction, and planning through both physical state and latent intent uncertainty. In this paper, we transform this intractable problem into a supervised learning problem, where a fully-observable robot policy generates supervision for a partially-observable one. We find that the quality of the supervision signal for the partially-observable pursuer policy depends on two key factors: the balance of diversity and optimality of the evader's behavior and the strength of the modeling assumptions in the fully-observable policy. We deploy our policy on a physical quadruped robot with an RGB-D camera on pursuit-evasion interactions in the wild. Despite all the challenges, the sensing constraints bring about creativity: the robot is pushed to gather information when uncertain, predict intent from noisy measurements, and anticipate in order to intercept. Project webpage: https://abajcsy.github.io/vision-based-pursuit/

The valorization of CO 2 to chemicals beyond C 1-2 products is receiving significant interest; however, the direct electrosynthesis of C n molecules (n > 4) remains a challenge. Here, we present a two-step abiotic–biotic system for upgrading CO 2 into the biopolymer, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate). In the electrolysis system, CO 2 is converted into C 2 oxygenates using a Cu–Ag tandem electrocatalyst. The electrolysis process generates a liquid stream containing ~ 200 mM acetate in a bio-compatible electrolyte. This electrosynthesized acetate is then fed to a bioreactor, where the substrate is upgraded by Cupriavidus necator to biopolymer with a maximum rate of 32 ± 3.5 mg L −1 h −1 . We further demonstrate the purification of the resulting biopolymer into a powder. The high productivity of the abiotic–biotic system demonstrates its feasibility for sustainable chemical manufacturing.

Water vapor sorption data and nitrogen sorption data for MOF-303 synthesized by solvothermal, reflux, vessel and microwave method.

The optical absorption properties of free-standing InAs nanomembranes of thicknesses ranging from 3 nm to 19 nm are investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Stepwise absorption at room temperature is observed, arising from the interband transitions between the subbands of 2D InAs nanomembranes. Interestingly, the absorptance associated with each step is measured to be ∼1.6%, independent of thickness of the membranes. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretically predicted absorptance quantum, A Q = πα/n c for each set of interband transitions in a 2D semiconductor, where α is the fine structure constant and n c is an optical local field correction factor. Absorptance quantization appears to be universal in 2D systems including III–V quantum wells and graphene.

Catalysis research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Laboratories covers a wide range of research topics in heterogeneous catalysis, homogeneous/molecular catalysis, biocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and surface science. Because much of the work at National Laboratories is funded by DOE, the research is largely focused on addressing DOE’s mission to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. The catalysis research carried out at the DOE National Laboratories ranges from very fundamental catalysis science, funded by DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), to applied research and development (R&D) in areas such as biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals, fuel cells, and vehicle emission control with primary funding from DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. National Laboratories are home to many DOE Office of Science national scientific user facilities that provide researchers with the most advanced tools of modern science, including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources, and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld and the terrestrial environment. National Laboratory research programs typically feature teams of researchers working closely together, often joining scientists from different disciplines to tackle scientific and technical problems using a variety of tools and techniques available at the DOE national scientific user facilities. Along with collaboration between National Laboratory scientists, interactions with university colleagues are common in National Laboratory catalysis R&D. In some cases, scientists have joint appointments at a university and a National Laboratory. This ACS Catalysis Virtual Special Issue {http://pubs.acs.org/page/accacs/vi/doe-national-labs} was motivated by Christopher Jones and Rhea Williams, who sent out the invitations to all of DOE’s National Laboratories where catalysis research is conducted. All manuscripts submitted went through the standard rigorous peer review required for publication in ACS Catalysis. A total of 29 papers are published in this virtual special issue, which features some of the recent catalysis research at 11 of DOE’s National Laboratories: Ames Laboratory (Ames), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC). In this preface, we briefly discuss the history and impact of catalysis research at these particular DOE National Laboratories, where the majority of catalysis research continues to be conducted.