Dr. Richard Liptak specializes in semiconductor materials and devices, molecular-beam epitaxy, atomic layer deposition, and nanoelectronics. He co-teaches a nanotechnology class that utilizes the institute’s Micro-Nano Device and Systems (MiNDS) lab. Dr. Liptak’s research focuses on design and fabrication of transparent conducting oxides and thin-film solar cells, synthesis of quantum dots and quantum dot-based electronics, and flexible electronics. He is on the advisory board for the Independent Project/Research Opportunities program.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD, University of Minnesota, Electrical Engineering, 2009
  • MS, University of Minnesota, Electrical Engineering, 2006
  • BS, John Carroll University, Engineering Physics, 2004

Awards & Honors

  • Integrated Graduate Research Traineeship Fellow, National Science Foundation, 2006-2008

Publications & Presentations

  • Kirkpatrick, S. R.  and Liptak, R. W., “Thinking Big and Small: An Approach to Engineering Physics as a Major,” American Society for Engineering Education’s Annual Conference,  New Orleans, 2016
  • Johnson, F., Song, S. H., Abrahamson, J., Liptak, R. W., Aydil, E. S. and Campbell, S. A., “Sputtered Metal Oxide Broken Gap Junctions for Solar Cells,” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 132, 515, 2015
  • Felbier, P. Yang, J., Theis, J., Liptak, R. W., Wagner, A., Bacher, A. G. and Kortshagen, U., “Highly Luminescent ZnO Quantum Dots Made in a Nonthermal Plasma,” Advanced Functional Materials, Volume 24, 1962, 2014
  • Campbell, S. A., Johnson, F., Karthikeyan, S., Song, S. H., Liptak, R. W. and Benton, B., “Sputtered Metal Oxide Broken Gap Junctions,” The Electrochemical Society’s 225th Meeting, Orlando, 2014
  • Yang, J., Liptak, R. W., Yu, J., Rowe, D. R., Casey, J., Witker, D., Campbell, S. A. and Kortshagen, U., “UV and Air Stability of High-Efficiency Photoluminescent Silicon Nanocrystals,” Applied Surface Science, Vol. 323, 54, 2014
  • Leisher, P. O., Kirkpatrick, S. R., Liptak, R. W., Granieri, S. C. and Bunch, R. M., “An Activity in Design for Manufacturability – Concept Generation through Volume Production in Less than Three Hours,”  America Society for Engineering Education’s Annual Conference, Indianapolis, 2014
  • Karthikeyan, S., Sibakoti, M., Liptak, R. W., Song, S. H., Abrahamson, J., Aydil, E. S. and Campbell, S. A., “Challenges in Deposition of Wide Band Gap Copper Indium Gallium Aluminum Gallium Selenide Thin Films for Tandem Solar Cells,” 40th Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers’ Photonics Specialists Conference, Denver, 2014
  • Hao, T., Song, J., Liptak, R. W. and Leisher, P. O. , “Experimental Verification of Longitudinal Spatial Hole Burning in High-Power Diode Lasers,” International Society for Optics and Photonics’ Defense and Commercial Sensing Conference, Baltimore, 2014
  • Liptak, R. W., Yang, J., Kortshagen, U. and Campbell, S. A., “Enviromental Photostability of SF6-Etched Silicon Nanocrystals,” Nanotechnology, Vol. 23, 395205, 2012
  • Pi, X. D., Liptak, R. W., Nowak, J. D., Wells, N., Blank, D., Carter, C. B., Kortshagen, U. and Campbell, S. A., “Air-Stable Full-Visible-Spectrum Emission from Silicon Nanocrystals Synthesized by an All-Gas-Phase Plasma Approach,” Nanotechnology, Vol. 19, 245603, 2008

Research Experiences

  • Design and fabrication of thin-film solar cells, quantum-dot solar cells, and emerging solar cell technologies (such as nanorectennas)
  • Design, fabrication and characterization of flexible electronic devices
  • Atomic layer deposition of III-N for low cost LEDs, transparent conducting oxides and diffusion barriers
  • Fabrication and integration of quantum dots and nanotubes for device applications

Teaching Interests

  • Introductory physics
  • Circuits
  • Semiconductor materials
  • Semiconductor devices
  • Semiconductor fabrication
  • Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
  • Sensors
  • Nanotechnology
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