Photo 1: Ph.D. students conducting cryogenic electron transport measurements. Note that all students involved in nanofabrication and low-temperature measurements are properly dressed in lab coats. The students look serious but happy. Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (UCLA POEM) Laboratory, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering V Building, UCLA, December 2024.

Photo 2: Ph.D. students performing thermal characterization of materials. Note that the students look happy but focused. Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (UCLA POEM) Laboratory, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering V Building, UCLA, December 2024.

Photo 3: Ph.D. getting ready to measure low-frequency electronic noise in the test structures they fabricated in a cleanroom. The students look serious but happy. Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (UCLA POEM) Laboratory, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering V Building, UCLA, December 2024.

Photo 4: Ph.D. and M.S. students performing Raman spectroscopy of thin films. The students look focused and happy. Raman and Brillouin Spectroscopy Laboratory (SPECTRA LAB), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering V Building, UCLA, December 2024.

Photo 5: Ph.D. and M.S. students watch how a research engineer aligns the Brillouin – Mandelstam spectrometer. The students look puzzled but happy. The Brillouin – Mandelstam Spectroscopy (BMS) Facility was developed by Professor Balandin with NSF MRI funding. California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), UCLA, December 2024.

Photo 6: Ph.D. student measures acoustic phonon spectrum of semiconductor materials. Note the happy look since the measurement is progressing well. The Brillouin – Mandelstam Spectroscopy (BMS) Facility, California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), UCLA, December 2024.

Photo 7: Ph.D. student proudly presents the Composite Laboratory wet lab space for chemical exfoliation and preparation of composites and their thermal and electrical characterization in the POEM Laboratory. Note the happy look since he managed to exfoliate individual atomic chains of the materials. The POEM Lab space is in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), Engineering VI Building, UCLA, December 2024.