Congratulations to Wenhao Hu for successfully defending his PhD dissertation on "First Principles Investigations of Single Dopants in Diamond and Silicon Carbide."

"Dr. Hu studied the electronic structure and magnetic behavior of individual atoms embedded in the wide-gap semiconductors diamond and silicon carbide. He calculated the charge state of europium, a rare-earth magnetic atom, embedded in diamond and discovered that the most stable configuration is of a europium atom and nearby vacancy in the crystal. These results corresponded accurately to experimental measurements. He further calculated the magnetic properties of nickel atoms in silicon carbide and their response to pressure applied to the surrounding crystal. He found a transition from a magnetic ground state to a nonmagnetic ground state of the nickel atom under the influence of strain, which depended on whether the nickel atom substituted for a silicon atom or a carbon atom."
— Michael Flatté, PhD advisor

Dr. Hu is pursuing a degree in financial engineering at the City University of New York.