Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Physics (PhD)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Physics

Advisor 1

Yoke Khin Yap

Committee Member 1

John Jaszczak

Committee Member 2

Ranjit Pati

Committee Member 3

Paul Bergstrom

Abstract

Van der Waals nanomaterials refer to a class of materials and assemblies of materials

where individual atomic layers are held in place by weak van der Waals forces. In

this work, we examine two types of quantum van der Waals materials: molybdenum

disulfide quantum dots and a novel, tunable, organic quantum dot, and we explore the

potential applications for them both. For the molybdenum disulfide quantum dots,

we report a solar cell using sustainable thin films and our quantum dots with a power

conversion efficiency greater than 5%. For our novel quantum dot, we explore factors

of synthesis, propose a fluorescence mechanism involving strong hydrogen bonding,

and explore biomedical applications via internal functionalization of boron nitride

nanotubes with our new quantum dot.

Available for download on Wednesday, April 14, 2027

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