Optoelectronics with Carbon Nanotubes

Acknowledgements
First, I would like to express my gratitude to my dissertation advisor, Dr. Emilio E.
Mendez, who has been much more than a dissertation advisor to me. If I had not taken his
introductory solid state physics course as an undergraduate student, I would never have gone into
this field, and without the inspiration I received from his teaching, I may not have gone into
teaching. His guidance, understanding and patience helped me persist and finish my graduate
work through one of the most challenging periods of my life. I feel honored to have been his
student. He also assisted me extensively throughout the editing process. While I am grateful to
Dr. Mendez for his assistance, I must clarify that the blame for errors in the empirical analysis
and in the writing (if any) lies with me alone.
I would also like to thank the members of my dissertation committee for their interest: Drs.
Philip B. Allen, Harold J. Metcalf and Stanislaus Wong. In particular, special thanks go to Dr.
Allen who not only served as the committee chair, but also made numerous suggestions for
improving my dissertation.
The bulk of the work presented here was conducted at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
in Yorktown Heights, NY, with the group lead by Dr. Phaedon Avouris, and his help and insights
are greatly appreciated as well. My collaborators at IBM were very generous with their expertise,
from which I learned a tremendous amount and benefited in tangible ways. For this, I am
indebted to (titles omitted) Thomas Mueller, Mathias Steiner, Ageeth Bol (for growing countless
carbon nanotube samples and for her expert knowledge in nanotube growth), Vasili Perebeinos,
Michael Engel, Joshua Small, Damon Farmer (for ALD growth), Bruce Ek (for much technical
support and e-beam evaporation), Jim Bucchignano (for e-beam writing), Hsin-Ying Chiu, Jim
Tsang, Siyu Koswatta, Yu-Ming Lin, Fengnian Xia, Marcus Freitag, Ali Afzali, George Tulevski,
Zhihong Chen, Jim Rozen, Teresita Graham and many others.
This dissertation was finished while I was working at SUNY Orange Community College
as a first-year instructor, and I appreciate the understanding and support of my colleagues during
that time. In particular, I would like thank John Wolbeck and Stacey Moegenburg for being very
understanding and for encouraging me throughout the process. My thanks also go to my other
colleagues for cheering me on. I am very fortunate to work in such an incredible work
environment.
Carolyn Ramsey and Christian Lavoie helped me through some of the most difficult
phases of my graduate life. Without their care, support, understanding and friendship, this
dissertation would not have been possible. I am forever grateful for their generosity of heart. In
addition, I would like to thank Monica Mack, Merrill and Tamaji Harmin and the members of
their meditation group, Hsin-Ying Chiu, Jerome Ramsey, Daniel Kerr, Ching-tzu Chen, Qing
Wang, Brian Hessel and all my other friends for their friendship and support.
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