Dr. Zelalem N. Urgessa, a post doctoral student with the Nano Photonics Group in the Department of Physics of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, is this year’s winner of the Division for Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials competition for the Goodfellow Award for Best Publication by a PhD Student in the field of condensed matter and materials.
Dr Igle Gledhill, President of the South African Institute of Physics, presenting the 2015 Goodfellow PhD Publication Award to Dr Zelalem Urgessa.
Dr Urgessa’s paper, entitled “Low temperature near band edge recombination dynamics in ZnO nanorods”, was published in the prominent Journal of Applied Physics, volume 116 of 2014.
In the paper, the recombination dynamics of neutral donor bound excitons and near band edge defect-related emission in solution grown ZnO nanorods are investigated using steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The effects of annealing on the optical, structural and morphology of the nanorods were studied.
The Goodfellow Award, bestowed at the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP) conference each year, is funded by the Goodfellow Group of Companies, international suppliers of high-quality metals, polymers, ceramics and other materials to universities and other research facilities. According to Goodfellow Managing Director Stephen Aldersley, the Goodfellow Award – first given at the SAIP conference in 2000 – is a tangible example of the company’s commitment to recognizing talented young scientists. “We at Goodfellow are pleased to do our part in highlighting the research of these exceptional young professionals,” says Aldersley. “Their innovative work is an inspiration to us all.”
For more information about Goodfellow, go to www.goodfellow.com. For more information about the South African Institute of Physics, go to www.saip.org.za.