EAST LANSING — Rebecca Anthony, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the Michigan State University College of Engineering, has been awarded a five-year, $500,000 NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award to research nanostructure manufacturing that will make LED lights more efficient and versatile.
NSF CAREER awards support junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research and education.
The NSF award will help advance her research project entitled, “Continuous Vapor-Phase Manufacturing of Anisotropic Silicon Nanostructures for Optoelectronic Applications.”
“We’re trying to use sustainable techniques to make semiconductor nanorods and other non-spherical nanostructures,” Anthony said. “By controlling the shapes of these materials, you change the colors of light that they can emit and absorb, as well as other important properties. This will allow us to improve the efficiency and versatility of LED lights, solar cells, and communication devices. Spherical is the norm for nanoparticles. We’re trying to expand and break the norm.”
