Joel W. Ager, III

                
LBNL Senior Scientist

jwager at lbl.gov
phone: 510-486-6715

Education
Postdoctoral Researcher, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Postdoctoral Researcher, Physikalish-Chemisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg, Germany

Major Awards
2000, 2002  LBNL Outstanding Performance Award

General Research Interests
Optical spectroscopy of semiconductors and other materials:  application of optical spectroscopy (especially Raman scattering) to the characterization of materials with an emphasis on semiconductors used in photovoltaic applications.  Characterization of semiconductor nanocrystals via optical and x-ray based methods.  Measurement and modeling of stress distributions in heteroepitaxial semiconductor and other thin film structures.  Local vibrational mode (LVM) spectroscopy.  Spectroscopic measurements under high pressure. 
Isotopically enriched semiconductors:  Development of high-yield, high-purity methods for the synthesis of single crystal semiconductors with controlled proportions of stable isotopes.  Design of novel structures and experiments utilizing isotopically controlled semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures.  Exploration of the resolution and coherence time limits for solid-state spectroscopies. 
Nano and micro-characterization of mineralized tissues.  Development of UV Raman spectroscopy as an in-situ probe of the collagen environment in bone and teeth.  Application of quantitative electron microscopy and x-ray tomography techniques for structural studies of human and other mammalian bone.

MSD Research Projects:

Electronic Materials
Mechanical Properties of Advanced Materials
High Efficiency III-Nitride Tandem Cells WFO for Rose St Lab
Helios SERC

Personal website:                 

http://emat-solar.lbl.gov/people/JWA.html

MSD Research Highlights:

Superheating, Supercooling, and Hysteresis in Semiconductor Nanocrystals (with Daryl Chrzan and Eugene E. Haller)

Isotopically Controlled Silicon Single Crystals—Multinational Teams Determine Bandgap in Ultrapure Crystals, (with Eugene E. Haller)