Ir-Jene Shan granted DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research award
Ir-Jene Shan has been granted a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award to study a scattering mediated Franck-Condon electron emission processes in metal photocathodes at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Consortium (SLAC). The SCGSR program creates a pathway for students to advance their PhD thesis research while working at a DOE National Laboratory, collaborating with world-class scientists, and using state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge scientific instrumentation. It thereby supports the goal to develop a new generation STEM experts who are critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission. The supported four-month research project in the Spring 2025 semester is a collaboration between Prof. Schroeder’s group at UIC and Dr. Vecchione at SLAC. The project is designed to verify the hypothesized temperature dependence of a newly discovered near-threshold photoemission mechanism observed in single-crystal metal photocathodes – studies that cannot be performed at UIC and so will utilize the cryogenic photocathode characterization system available at SLAC. Successful conclusion of this research work will therefore provide ‘capstone’ experimental measurements for Ir-Jene’s doctoral thesis.