Dr. Costel Constantin
Short Bio
I am an assistant professor in Physics and Astronomy department here at JMU. I arrived here in September 2010 from Seton Hall University where I was an assistant professor in the Physics department. I previously worked as a postdoc in the group of Randall Feenstra from Carnegie Mellon University. I received my MS and PhD from Ohio University in 2005 and my BS from University Politehnica of Bucharest in 1999.
I am a scientist interested a handful of nanoscience projects. During my Ph.D. and postdoctoral experience, I worked on structual, electrical, and surface characterization of nitride systems such as Manganese Gallium Nitride (MnGaN), Scandium Gallium Nitride (ScGaN), and Chromium Nitride (CrN). For these Nitride systems, I used molecular beam evaporator as a growth method and scanning tunneling microscope as a surface characterization technique. Most recently, I am interested to understand the thermal transport and thermoelectric properties of materials systems such as Gallium Nitride semiconductors, Manganese Oxide (MnO2) powders, and the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT-PSS). We measure all of our samples with in-house x-ray diffraction, ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy instruments. We measure the nanoscale thermal transport with Time-Domain Thermoreflectance (TDTR). This measurement is done in collaboration with Dr. Patrick Hopkins group at University of Virginia Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
I am a scientist interested a handful of nanoscience projects. During my Ph.D. and postdoctoral experience, I worked on structual, electrical, and surface characterization of nitride systems such as Manganese Gallium Nitride (MnGaN), Scandium Gallium Nitride (ScGaN), and Chromium Nitride (CrN). For these Nitride systems, I used molecular beam evaporator as a growth method and scanning tunneling microscope as a surface characterization technique. Most recently, I am interested to understand the thermal transport and thermoelectric properties of materials systems such as Gallium Nitride semiconductors, Manganese Oxide (MnO2) powders, and the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT-PSS). We measure all of our samples with in-house x-ray diffraction, ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy instruments. We measure the nanoscale thermal transport with Time-Domain Thermoreflectance (TDTR). This measurement is done in collaboration with Dr. Patrick Hopkins group at University of Virginia Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
