Members

Mike Scarpulla

Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering | Electrical & Computer Engineering

Adjunct, Associate Professor | Chemical Engineering

Editor | IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Office: 2138 MEB
Phone: (801) 585-1231
Fax: (801) 581-5281
Lab: (801) 587-5679 or (801) 585-3241
Email: scarpulla@ece.utah.edu

Research Topics: Materials Science of Compound Semiconductors, Thin Film Photovoltaics, Laser Processing of Compound Semiconductors

Mike Scarpulla

Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering |
Electrical & Computer Engineering

Adjunct, Associate Professor | Chemical Engineering
Editor | IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Office: 2138 MEB
Phone: (801) 585-1231
Fax: (801) 581-5281
Lab: (801) 587-5679 or (801) 585-3241
Email: scarpulla@ece.utah.edu

PostDocs

Rujun Sun

Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering | Electrical & Computer Engineering

Adjunct, Associate Professor | Chemical Engineering

Editor | IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Grad Students

Jason Merrell

Undergrads

Mike Scarpulla

Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering | Electrical & Computer Engineering

Adjunct, Associate Professor | Chemical Engineering

Editor | IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Visiting Students

Mike Scarpulla

Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering | Electrical & Computer Engineering

Adjunct, Associate Professor | Chemical Engineering

Editor | IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Collaborators

Phillip Dale Group U Luxembourg Laser Processing of Electrodeposited Cu(In,Ga)Se2 http://wwwen.uni.lu/recherche/fstc/physics_and_materials_science_research_unit/people/phillip_dale
Zang, Vardeny, Whittaker-Brooks Groups University of Utah Perovskites for Photovoltaics
Chris Ferekides Group U South Florida Laser Processing of CdTe
Kenji Yoshino Group U Miyazaki Bulk crystals of CZTSSe
Andrei Postnikov Université de Lorraine Ab-initio vibrational free energy of point defect formation
Glenn Teeter Group NREL Characterization of combinatorial CZTS
Mike Toney Group SSRL Xray characterization of thin film PV materials
Kirstin Alberi Group NREL
Ingrid Repins Group NREL Defect Spectroscopies on CZTSe
Naba Paudel U Toledo Laser Processing of CdTe
Kelvin Lynn WSU Crystal Growth, fun ideas
Matt McCluskey WSU Defect characterization
Elif Ertekin UIUC Defect Calculations
John McCloy WSU Ga2O3 Crystal Growth
Akira Nagaoka U Miyazaki CdTe growth and doping using THM
Ed Seebauer UIUC Defect injection and diffusion
Joel Varley LLNL Defect Theory
Nasim Alem Penn State U Electron Microscopy
Azaree Linteurer Penn State U Irradiation and damage response of semiconductors
Emily Mace PNNL Irradiation and damage response of semiconductors
Petra Specht LBNL Electron Microscopy of semiconductors
Danny Feezel UNM MOCVD Growth and characterization of GaN
Cynthia Furse U Utah SSTDR monitoring of PV installations
Joel Harley U Florida SSTDR monitoring of PV installations
Berardi Sensale-Rodriguez U Utah Defects and characterization of Ga2O3
Sriram Krishnamoorthy U Utah Growth and fabrication of Ga2O3 epilayers and devices
Chris Deline NREL SSTDR monitoring of PV installations
Amit Munshi, Walajabad Sampath CSU Growth and fabrication of CdTe based solar cells
Alumni
Akira Nagaoka Visiting Postdoc (2015-2017). JSPS Postdoc Fellowship Bulk crystals of CZTSSe & CdTe Professor, University of Miyazaki, Japan
https://srhumdb.miyazaki-u.ac.jp/html/100002083_en.html
Mehmet (Eray) Erkan Postdoc (2013-)
Vipul Kheraj Assistant Professor, SVNIT, Surat, India 2013-2014. Defects in CZTS, surface photovoltage spectroscopy, aging of perovskites. Faculty Page
Brian Simonds Postdoc (2012-2014) Laser processing of CdTe NIST Boulder
Volodymyr Kosyak Postdoc (2011-2013) Defects in CZTSSe Sumy State University, Ukraine
Win Maw Hlaing Oo Postdoc (2009-2011) Defects in CZTS
Junyi Zhu Postdoc (2012-2013) Ab-initio defects in CZTS City University of Hong Kong
James Nagel PhD ECE (2010-2012) Light Trapping in Thin Si, scattering by dielectric nanoparticles, modes in lossy waveguides Terahertz Devices
Ashish Bhatia PhD MSE (2008-2013) Laser processing of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) Intel
Elizabeth (Liz) Lund PhD ChemE (2010-2014) Defects in CZTSSe
Sudhajit Misra PhD ECE (2013-2019) Optoelectronic charcterization of thin film semiconduuctors,
laser processing of CdTe, CuInSe Solar cells
Postdoc Oak Ridge National Lab
Dennis Pruzan PhD MSE (2013-2018) Compositional Fluctuations in thin film solar cells Lead Scientist, DPS Skis
Peter Peroncik PhD Phys (2014-2015) Properties of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskites
Anna Caruso MS ECE (2013-) Defect spectroscopies on CZTSSe
Carina Hahn BS/MS MSE (2016) CZTSSe Devices, CdTe
Makarand (Mak) Karmarkar MSE (2011-2014) CZTSSe
Laura Treider MS ECE (2014-2017) III-V Band Offsets
Alex Gibbs BS Phys, MS MSE (2012-2016) CZTSSe devices
Kholoud Al-Ajmi MS ECE (2015-2018) Capacitance Characterization of thin film solar cells
Omar Salah BS MSE (2015) CZTSSe Devices
Tom Wilenski BS ECE (2015)
MS ECE (2018)
DLTS Instrumentation
Yukee Ooi Postdoc IV, CV, DLTS, PL of GaN and Ga2O3
Sophia Gardner MSE BS/MS 2020 EL, IV, CV measurements on GaN diodes

Answers to General Inquiries

Visiting Scholars

Dr. Scarpulla welcomes colleagues wishing to collaborate and spend time at the University of Utah, but does not have funding to support such visits. Potential visitng scholars having their own funding (including project funding) should contact Dr. Scarpulla.

POSTDOCS

There are no funded postdoc positions open at this time. If this changes, I will post a news item on the homepage and announce the position here. However, exceptional candidates who already have or who wish to apply for externally funded postdoctoral fellowships (e.g. EERE, NSF, DOE, von Humboldt, BASE, etc.) should contact Prof. Scarpulla to discuss project ideas.

PhD Students

FEB 2021- I AM CURRENTLY SEARCHING FOR 1-2 EXCEPTIONAL PHD STUDENTS WITH ECE, MSE, OR PHYSICS BACKGROUNDS TO WORK ON MANIPULATING AND CHARACTERIZING DEFECTS IN GA2O3 FOR USE IN HIGH VOLTAGE, HIGH-POWER, HIGH-EFFICIENCY ELECTRONICS.  

Opportunities arise throughout the year based on external funding, so interested candidates should apply to the MSE or ECE departments every year to ensure eligibility. Outstanding candidates from US undergraduate institutions may be eligible for the College of Engineering Fellowships – please contact Dr. Scarpulla if you fall into this category. The first prerequisite for this fellowship is being accepted to a U of U PhD program in the College of Engineering so candidates should apply as soon as possible. All candidates are encouraged to seek external graduate fellowships (good for the candidate’s career as well as allowing more students to work on each project which will translate into more progress); here is an excellent (but not necessarily exhaustive) list of extramural graduate fellowships primarily aimed at US students. ASEE SMART Fellowships AT&T Fellowships & Internships IBM PhD Fellowships National Physical Science Consortium Fellowships ARCS Foundation Similar fellowships may be available from other countries for international students and candidates are encouraged to seek these out. Dr. Scarpulla is always interested in exceptional PhD candidates who are self-directed learners, hard workers, and who have 1) GPA’s approximately A- or above and 2) prior research experience related to electronic materials and devices.
The College of Engineering Fellowship Office maintains a superb listing of local and outside scholarships and fellowships here.

MS Students

There are no funded positions for MS students at this time. Most of the time, Dr. Scarpulla will only consider MS candidates in two circumstances: 1) they require no funding or have their own funding, 2) they are candidates in the BS/MS programs at the University of Utah.
The College of Engineering Fellowship Office maintains a superb listing of local and outside scholarships and fellowships here.

Undergraduate Students

Interested students at the U of Utah should contact Prof. Scarpulla with CV and transcript. Prof. Scarpulla advises multiple senior projects and undergraduate lab assistants each year.
The College of Engineering Fellowship Office maintains a superb listing of local and outside scholarships and fellowships here.

International Internships

Please contact Prof. Scarpulla only if a) you require no funding, b) you can stay for a period of at least 1 year. Otherwise: there is no funding for such visits and the time is too short to accomplish useful learning and progress.

Domestic Interns

Outstanding college and even some high school students may be good fits for lab interns. Contact Dr. Scarpulla.